New Zealand sources.list for apt(8) on Debian

apt's behaviour is moulded by files in /etc/apt: apt.conf(5) tells apt how to behave, and (more importantly) sources.list(5) tells apt where to look for packages. There are two types of entries in this file, deb lines, referring to Debian binary package repositories, and deb-src lines, for source packages. Unless you want to compile packages yourself from Debian sources, you can usually remove the deb-src lines from your config and save some time downloading headers.

If you're running a production server, or don't need bleeding edge, your lines should read

deb [mirror] stable main contrib non-free

The more exciting new stuff is in testing or unstable; see FlavoursOfDebian for more information on how this works.

/etc/apt/sources.list

This is a file set up for a New Zealand user, using the unstable distribtion. If you want to use stable or testing, just change mentions of 'unstable' to the flavor of your choice. If you have bandwidth to burn, enable more than one mirror at once (Packages.gz tends to be around 2mb.)

There are plenty of other Apt mirrors around the world; try http://www.your two letter country code.debian.org/.

# See sources.list(5) for more information, especialy
# Remember that you can only use http, ftp or file URIs
# CDROMs are managed through the apt-cdrom tool.

# remember!  stable == sarge.  testing == etch.  unstable == sid (always).
# if you are going to use stable, uncomment security as well.

# Citylink mirror (only works for people peering at APE or WIX
deb http://linux.citylink.co.nz/debian unstable main contrib non-free
deb http://linux.citylink.co.nz/debian-non-US unstable/non-US main contrib non-free

# Citylink mirror for stable
# deb http://linux.citylink.co.nz/debian stable main contrib non-free
# deb http://linux.citylink.co.nz/debian-non-US stable/non-US main contrib non-free
# deb http://security.debian.org stable/updates main contrib non-free

# uncomment to use Jetstream Games' mirror
# deb ftp://ftp.jetstreamgames.co.nz/debian unstable main contrib non-free
# deb ftp://ftp.jetstreamgames.co.nz/debian-non-US unstable/non-US main contrib non-free

# Uncomment to use Callplus's mirror
# deb http://ftp.tranzpeer.net/debian unstable main contrib non-free
# deb http://ftp.tranzpeer.net/debian-non-US unstable/non-US main contrib non-free

# Uncomment to use AARnet in Australia
# deb ftp://mirror.aarnet.edu.au/debian unstable main contrib non-free
# deb ftp://mirror.aarnet.edu.au/debian-non-US unstable/non-US main contrib non-free

# Uncomment to use the "main" American source
# deb http://http.us.debian.org/debian unstable main contrib non-free
# deb http://non-us.debian.org/debian-non-US unstable/non-US main contrib non-free

# Uncomment if you want the apt-get source function to work
#deb-src http://http.us.debian.org/debian stable main contrib non-free
#deb-src http://non-us.debian.org/debian-non-US stable/non-US main contrib non-free

/etc/apt/sources.list.jsgames

# See sources.list(5) for more information, especialy
# Remember that you can only use http, ftp or file URIs
# CDROMs are managed through the apt-cdrom tool.

# remember!  stable == woody.  testing == sarge.  unstable == sid (always).
# you might want to use 203.96.91.1

deb ftp://ftp.jetstreamgames.co.nz/debian unstable main contrib non-free

Automatic Jetstream update

Hint: set up a shell script like this

#!/bin/sh
# do whatever you have to do to get onto the jetstream realm here
killall pptp
pptp 10.69.3.2 file /etc/ppp/options.jsgames
###
cp /etc/apt/sources.list /etc/apt/sources.list.all
cp /etc/apt/sources.list.jsgames /etc/apt/sources.list
apt-get update
apt-get upgrade
# get back on the real internet
cp /etc/apt/sources.list.all /etc/apt/sources.list
killall pptp
pptp 10.69.3.2

and you can set something up that will automatically change to the Jetstream Games connetion and update Debian very quickly.

Pinning your distribution

If you want to use packages from several distributions at once, see AptNotes for details on pinning packages.