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Instead of having to remember the whole apt.ubuntu.com/p/package shebang, it would be easier to just support apt://package links.

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    IIRC Marco was talking to SE about doing ?packagename and having that translate server side to the apt.ubuntu.com ...
    – Jorge Castro
    Commented Oct 10, 2010 at 20:26
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    @Jorge I like that idea (especially since you could have it expand to the full package name etc.) but wouldn't that particular syntax get in the way of people accidentally missing the space after the question mark? (You have my full support for, e.g., ?[text](package).)
    – badp
    Commented Oct 10, 2010 at 20:46
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    The format being proposed is ?[package]
    – Marco Ceppi Mod
    Commented Oct 11, 2010 at 0:45
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    possible duplicate of How do we solve the package installation problem?
    – Jorge Castro
    Commented Jan 6, 2012 at 3:04

2 Answers 2

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apt.ubuntu.com currently doesn't have the nicest UI in the world, but https://wiki.ubuntu.com/AptUrlRedirector suggests more how it should work. I hope I'll get some time to actually implement nicer screens on apt.ubuntu.com to make it more worthwhile to link to.

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    The HTTP 426 response is priceless :)
    – badp
    Commented Oct 11, 2010 at 16:22
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    Improvements to the AptUrlRedirector can be found on the LanchPad Page
    – Marco Ceppi Mod
    Commented Dec 11, 2010 at 21:31
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It is my understanding that apt:// protocol links are deprecated. These provide a terrible experience on non-Ubuntu platforms, with no further explanation of what Ubuntu is and how they can get the software they just clicked the aforementioned link for.

Granted, apt.ubuntu.com currently suffers this problem as well, but it is my hope that its authors will use the free advertising space it provides to start a conversation with non-Ubuntu users.

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    apt:// bot working on non-Ununtu systems shouldn't be an issue as this Ask Ubuntu is targeted for Ubuntu users.
    – papukaija
    Commented Feb 3, 2011 at 2:24
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    But it is important to make all links uniform, for simplicity, be it on Ask Ubuntu or Loco Teams' wikis, etc.
    – Agmenor
    Commented Feb 16, 2011 at 15:41

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