This article is a short overview of how to use apt-pinning on Debian and Debian-based distributions (like Ubuntu). Apt-Pinning allows you to use multiple releases (e.g. stable, testing, and unstable) on your system and to specify when to install a package from which release. That way you can run a system based mostly on the stable release, but also install some newer packages from testing or unstable (or third-party repositories).

Playdeb is a repository for Ubuntu games that makes it easy to install games that are available on getdeb.net. This article shows how you can install games using Playdeb on an Ubuntu 8.04 desktop.

This article explains how to improve/optimize/speed up package installation with Yum, install packages with "Yum Extender" (a GUI for Yum with extensive features to manage packages), and manage different external package repositories - with focus on prevention of problems with different repositories - on Fedora 7.

Sometimes it can be handy to set up your own repository to prevent from downloading the remote repository over and over again. This tutorial shows how to create a CentOS mirror for your local network. If you have to install multiple systems in your local network then all needed packages can be downloaded over the fast LAN connection, thus saving your internet bandwidth.

This guide provides step-by-step instructions on how to install Xen on an already working Debian Etch system. You can find all the software used here in the Etch repository, so no external files or compilation are needed.

This howto offers a simple way of creating DVD images of Debian or Ubuntu http/ftp repositories. Ubuntu doesn't offer DVDs ready to download with its main, universe, multiverse and/or restricted repositories. With the contents of this howto you can do it yourself. Having the Ubuntu or Debian repositories on DVD can be useful for those users who don't have access to the Internet where they have their Ubuntu installed but have access somewhere else to download the repository and build and burn the DVDs.

This short article describes how you can search for missing packages with apt-file on Debian and Ubuntu systems. apt-file allows you to search for a file name, and it gives back the name(s) of the package(s) containing that file so that you can install the appropriate package.

This tutorial shows how to create a Debian/Ubuntu mirror for your local network with the tool apt-mirror. Having a local Debian/Ubuntu mirror is good if you have to install multiple systems in your local network because then all needed packages can be downloaded over the fast LAN connection, thus saving your internet bandwidth.