NAME
xapt - convert Debian packages to cross versions on-the-fly
Synopsis
$ sudo xapt foo bar baz
$ sudo xapt -M http://ftp.fr.debian.org/debian/ foo bar baz
$ sudo xapt --clean-cache
Description
Downloading the Packages files can take a reasonable amount of time, so
to grip a number of packages, either specify all packages in one
command or use the "--keep-cache" option for each run and use the
"--clean-cache" option at the end.
Note also that, in common with the rest of Emdebian processing,
Install-Recommends is always turned off, so if you need a package that
is only recommended by packages in the list given to "xapt", that
package will need to be added to the list explicitly.
Limitations
Installing any package from repositories outside the normal apt sources
(especially if those packages are subsequently modified by dpkg-cross)
will list those packages as "local or obsolete" in package managers.
Converted packages cannot be upgraded without repeating the call to
"xapt" because "apt-get" does not know about the renaming of the
package by "dpkg-cross" when downloading the packages. This can cause
problems if dependencies of such packages need to be upgraded. It is
possible that the main system "apt" will try to remove these local
packages in order to proceed with the main system upgrade.
The best option is to use "xapt" inside a disposable chroot.