Caution: Ignoring bold red error messages can mess up your system. This is the result of a missing error check in xbps. Do not blame the script for this.

xdeb

xdeb is a posix shell script for converting deb(ian) packages to the xbps format.

Usage

Converting packages

Conversion will create files in your current working directory. Refer to the installation instruction for more information.

1. Install dependencies: xbps-install binutils tar curl xbps xz
2. Download xdeb: curl -LO github.com/xdeb-org/xdeb/releases/latest/download/xdeb
3. Set executable bit: chmod 0744 xdeb
4. Convert: ./xdeb -Sedf <name>_<version>_<arch>.deb
5. Install: xbps-install -R ./binpkgs <name>

Installation

Copy the script to /usr/local/bin/and set XDEB_PKGROOT=${HOME}/.config/xdeb to avoid cluttering your current working directory. Binaries will then be exported to ${XDEB_PKGROOT-.}/binpkgs.

Flags

In short: Just use -Sedf (Sync dependency list, remove empty directories, enable dependency resolution, resolve conflicts = don't break system)

Options can also be set via environment variables:

export XDEB_OPT_DEPS=true
export XDEB_OPT_SYNC=true
export XDEB_OPT_INSTALL=true
export XDEB_OPT_FIX_CONFLICT=true
export XDEB_OPT_WARN_CONFLICT=true

More information:

usage: xdeb [-S] [-d] [-Sd] [--deps] ... FILE
  -d                          Automatic dependency resolution
  -S                          Download shlibs file for automatic dependencies
  -c                          Like -C, excluding shlibs and binpkgs
  -r                          Remove repodata file (Use for re-building)
  -R                          Do not register package in repository pool.
  -q                          Extract .deb into destdir only, do not build
  -C                          Remove all files created by this script
  -b                          Build from destdir directly without a .deb file
  -e                          Remove empty directories from the package
  -m                          Add the -32bit suffix to the package name
  -i                          Don't warn if package could break the system
  -f                          Try to fix certain file conflicts (deprecated)
  -F                          Don't try to fix certain file conflicts
  -I                          Automatically install the package
  --deps=...                  Packages that shall be added as dependencies
  --not-deps=...              Packages that shall not be used as dependencies
  --arch=...                  Package arch
  --name=...                  Package name
  --version=...               Package version
  --revision=... --rev=...    Package revision
  --post-extract=...          File with post-extract commands (i.e. /dev/stdin)
  --help | -h                 Show help page

example:
  xdeb -Cq                    Remove all files and quit
  xdeb -Sd FILE               Sync depdendency list and create package
  xdeb --deps='tar>0' FILE    Add tar as manual dependency and create package

Automatic Dependencies

Using the automatic dependency feature allows reliable conversion of nearly all deb packages.

Use -Sd to sync the dependency list and build with dependency resolution enabled. Subsequent runs do not require -S and xdeb will not require internet. Just make sure to sync it once in a while.

Multilib

The -m (multilib) flag adds the suffix -32bit to the package and dependencies. Example with host arch x86_64:

./xdeb -Sedfm --arch=x86_64 ~/Downloads/Simplenote-linux-1.16.0-beta1-i386.deb

/lib will not be rewritten to /lib32

File Conflicts

Due to a missing check, the xbps package manager might break the system if a package contains a file that is already present on the system. As a workaround, xdeb shows warnings for conflicting files, do not ignore them. This only works when installing packages on the same machine they were converted on!

Updating a package may show lots of unnecessary warnings. Disable using -i (silence).

Resolving conflicts

Conflicts can either be resolved automatically (-f) or manually.

1. Build package: xdeb ...
2. Observe warnings
3. Fix files (Example: remove): rm -rf ${XDEB_PKGROOT-.}/destdir/usr/lib
4. Build package without conflicts: ./xdeb -rb

Using manual dependencies

Converting Minecraft.deb with manual dependency oracle-jre (Version 8 or later):

$ ./xdeb -Sedr --deps='oracle-jre>=8' ~/Downloads/Minecraft.deb
[+] Synced shlibs
[+] Extracted files
[+] Resolved dependencies (oracle-jre>=8 alsa-lib>=1.0.20_1 atk>=1.26.0_1
cairo>=1.8.6_1 dbus-libs>=1.2.10_1 expat>=2.0.0_1 fontconfig>=2.6.0_1
gdk-pixbuf>=2.22.0_1 glib>=2.18.0_1 glibc>=2.29_1 gtk+>=2.16.0_1 gtk+3>=3.0.0_1
libcups>=1.5.3_1 libgcc>=4.4.0_1 libstdc++>=4.4.0_1 libuuid>=2.18_1
libX11>=1.2_1 libxcb>=1.2_1 libXcomposite>=0.4.0_1 libXcursor>=1.1.9_1
libXdamage>=1.1.1_1 libXext>=1.0.5_1 libXfixes>=4.0.3_1 libXi>=1.2.1_1
libXrandr>=1.3.0_1 libXrender>=0.9.4_1 libXScrnSaver>=1.1.3_1 libXtst>=1.0.3_1
nspr>=4.8_1 nss>=3.12.4_1 pango>=1.24.0_1 zlib>=1.2.3_1)
index: added `minecraft-launcher-2.1.17627_1' (x86_64).
index: 1 packages registered.
[+] Done. Install using `xbps-install -R binpkgs minecraft-launcher-2.1.17627_1`

$ sudo xbps-install -R ./binpkgs minecraft-launcher-2.1.17417_1

Name               Action    Version           New version            Download size
GConf              install   -                 3.2.6_9                - 
minecraft-launcher install   -                 2.1.17417_1            - 

Size required on disk:         198MB
Space available on disk:       276GB

Do you want to continue? [Y/n] n

Add >0 to match any version (i.e. --deps='tar>0 base-system>0 curl>0')

Ignoring dependencies

When converting packages for electron based appliciations, xdeb may mistakenly add musl as a dependency. This can be resolved by using the --not-deps flag to blacklist certain dependencies:

$ ./xdeb -Sedf --not-deps="musl" ~/Downloads/gitkraken-amd64.deb
I Synced shlibs
I Extracted files
W Unable to find dependency for libcrypto.so.1.0.0
W Unable to find dependency for libcrypto.so.1.1
W Unable to find dependency for libcrypto.so.10
W Unable to find dependency for libssl.so.1.0.0
W Unable to find dependency for libssl.so.1.1
W Unable to find dependency for libssl.so.10
I Resolved dependencies (alsa-lib>=1.0.20_1 at-spi2-atk>=2.6.0_1 at-spi2-core>=1.91.91_1 atk>=1.26.0_1 cairo>=1.8.6_1 dbus-libs>=1.2.10_1 e2fsprogs-libs>=1.41.5_1 expat>=2.0.0_1 glib>=2.80.0_1 glibc>=2.39_1 gtk+3>=3.0.0_1 libX11>=1.2_1 libXcomposite>=0.4.0_1 libXdamage>=1.1.1_1 libXext>=1.0.5_1 libXfixes>=4.0.3_1 libXrandr>=1.3.0_1 libcups>=1.5.3_1 libcurl>=7.75.0_2 libdrm>=2.4.6_1 libgbm>=9.0_1 libgcc>=4.4.0_1 libstdc++>=4.4.0_1 libxcb>=1.2_1 libxkbcommon>=0.2.0_1 libxkbfile>=1.0.5_1 mit-krb5-libs>=1.8_1 nspr>=4.8_1 nss>=3.12.4_1 pango>=1.24.0_1 zlib>=1.2.3_1)
index: skipping `gitkraken-9.13.0_1' (x86_64), already registered.
index: 1 packages registered.
I Install using `xbps-install -R ./binpkgs gitkraken-9.13.0_1`

Rationale

• The VoidLinux-Team refuses to ship more chromium based browsers.
• Electron based applications, like Simplenote
• Proprietary applications like Discord or Minecraft.

Manually building packages is bothersome and would require learning the build system, cloning the (~150MB) void-packages repository, etc.
This script handles everything automatically and without even accessing the internet by default.