Automate APT pinning for Debian distributions

Description

In Debian systems, it is possible to do APT pinning, what allows the installation of certain packages from one distribution (testing, unstable, experimental) without the necessity of upgrading the entire system.

The Makefile contained in this project automates the creation of the APT configuration files for doing APT pinning with the four main Debian distibutions (stable, testing, unstable, and experimental).

Usage

Just type sudo make (or make as root) and you will be prompted for the name of the Debian mirror and the order of priority of the distributions. In order to accept the default values, just type enter.

$ sudo make
Debian mirror [ftp.us.debian.org]: ftp.fr.debian.org
Priority order [stable testing unstable experimental]: testing unstable stable experimental
Installing preferences file...
Installing source files...
aptitude update
[...]

This will create the following files:

/etc/apt/preferences.d/debian-releases
/etc/apt/sources.list.d/debian-testing.list
/etc/apt/sources.list.d/debian-unstable.list
/etc/apt/sources.list.d/debian-stable.list
/etc/apt/sources.list.d/debian-experimental.list

There is a rudimentary way of uninstalling the files, by using the command shown below. Note that this is only guaranteed to work if make uninstall immediately follows make install, otherwise some files may be left in the file system.

$ sudo make uninstall

Finally, the command shown below will display this very file using the commands markdown_py and w3m, if they are installed in the system. Otherwise it will just use cat.

$ make doc

Author

Released under the GNU Public License, version 3 or later. No warranties.