PackageKit > Item not found

Why am I seeing this page?

If you're seeing this page, it is probably because you tried to search for something in PackageKit, but it could not find what you were looking for. Look at the contents below to find information about specific issues you might encounter.

General Information

If you have been a Windows and/or a Mac OS user to date, you are probably used to searching for a program on the internet (often offered in an executable installer) and having to download and install it. You're probably familiar with software distributed on CDs, DVDs, etc. which often have an autorun feature from where you can then install them. For free and open systems like Debian GNU/Linux there is some software distributed in this fashion, but those are mostly proprietary and closed programs.

On systems like Debian, most software is packaged in nice .deb (or .rpm, like in Fedora) files which contain the programs and libraries you need. These files can be downloaded or come in CDs. Repositories are servers which contain sets of packages. You generally access them with tools like Synaptic.

These tools can list all the packages you have installed (from your kernel to your favorite application with all the libraries in between) and the packages that are available in the repositories that you have configured the tool to have access to. They also let you search for simple things like "image editor".

These tools provide a simple, centralized method of software installation and give the distributors (who set up the repositories) a centralized way to send you updates to your software.

In Debian you generally want to have at least Debian's repositories (which may include the install CD) but it is not uncommon to have other repositories (from other packagers) set up.

It's important to know that most of the tools you'll want to use in Debian are already in Debian's repositories. You can go search the internet for packages, or even source code, for others, but these will be more difficult to install and won't, most of the time, integrate as well with your system.

If you see this page, you might have searched for something Debian's repositories don't provide at time. Here you can find a list of possible issues and how to solve them.

From Ubuntu Help

Possible issues

Missing Package

Unfortunately, the package you were searching for is not available in the repositories. There are a few common reasons why a package might not be in Debian's repositories:

See Package Management for instructions how to add 3rd-party software repositories to extend the spectrum of available Debian packages.

Missing Codec

Unfortunately, the codec you were searching for is not available in Debian. A codec is a program that enables encoding and/or decoding of a data stream, in a specific format such as OGV, MP3, MOV, or WMV.

There are a few common reasons why a codec might not be in Debian's repositories:

See MultimediaCodecs to get information how to install missing codecs.

Missing Driver

Unfortunately, the driver you were searching for is not available in Debian. There are a few common reasons why a driver might not be in Debian's repositories:

See ?Driver for additional information about installing hardware drivers.

Missing Font

Unfortunately, the font you were searching for is not available in Debian. There are a few common reasons why a font might not be in Debian's repositories:

See Fonts for additional information.

Missing MIME Support

Unfortunately, there is nothing in the repositories that claims to support the MIME type you were searching for. There are a few common reasons why Debian may not have support for a MIME type:

List of item-descriptions was taken from Fedorawiki, licensed under CC-BY-SA

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