6

For any of the OSes that are compatible with the Raspberry Pi, are there any searchable databases that list the currently available packages that have been compiled for the OS?

I'm thinking of something like GetDeb for the RPi. It would be nice to see if some of my favorite apps are easily installable via some sort of web database before I take the plunge and switch distros.

I'm OK with just browsing the repo, as long as I don't need to have the OS installed to see the package list.

Thanks!

Zoot
  • 2,986
  • 3
  • 25
  • 36

2 Answers2

4

Both Debian and Arch Linux have an official list of packages that are available to be installed via their respective package manager. For information on how to install software for Debian and Arch Linux, please see:

The available list of software for Debian and Arch Linux can be found at the following resources:

NOTE All the packages in the Debian package list should be compatible. But just to make sure you should check the available Architectures under the Download section. You want to look for the armel architecture as that is the one that works on the Raspberry Pi.

Community
  • 1
3

If you prefer the command line, then you can search for packages easily there.

In Arch you can use pacman with the -Ss parameter:

$ pacman -Ss <search-term>

Or in Debian:

$ apt-cache search <search_term>

Both accpet wildcards, so you should be able to use them to search for what you need. They will respond with a brief description of the results so that you can tell if it is the required package.

For example:

$ pacman -Ss xf86-video-
extra/xf86-video-vesa 2.3.1-1 (xorg-drivers xorg) [installed]
    X.org vesa video driver
extra/xf86-video-vmware 12.0.2-1 (xorg-drivers xorg)
    X.org vmware video driver
extra/xf86-video-voodoo 1.2.4-6 (xorg-drivers xorg)
    X.org 3dfx Voodoo1/Voodoo2 2D video driver
...
Jivings
  • 22,538
  • 11
  • 90
  • 139