Ubuntu

Trusting a PPA

Asked by johnmne

How do I know whether it is safe to add a PPA and download & install software from it?

The PPA may reside in https://launchpad.net/ or not.

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actionparsnip
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actionparsnip (andrew-woodhead666) said : 		#1

you don't. its some guy or groups packages for themselves. They are publicly available but their contents cannot be vouched for as they are not intended for anyone's use but the owner of the PPA (the first P in PPA stands for "personal"). The debs in any PPA do not come with the same assurance as the packages from the official Ubuntu repositories.

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johnmne (phi-reporter) said : 		#2

@ actionparsnip (andrew-woodhead666) :
Hmm.. What exactly is the assurance for the packages from the official Ubuntu repositories ?

What do the Ubuntu developers do in order to assure the safety of the packages, if I may ask?
(I'd like to do the same..)

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Best actionparsnip (andrew-woodhead666) said : 		#3

Those are made by Canonical devs who work directly and are paid by Canonical as employees. It's like installing a KB in Windows using Windows update, or downloading it from anywhere else online.

They are the official packages from the official update source of your release of your distribution.

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johnmne (phi-reporter) said : 		#4

Thanks actionparsnip, that solved my question.