Just a quick reply on this one. I managed to create repo entries for the files, 
but did not play with it too much as the version used throws errors when 
saving. I would perhaps need to make some changes for what packages are 
actually required, I just installed all of xyz/DEBS/ and 
xyz/DEBS/desktop-integration/. Generally when you check one package, it will 
also install all the things it relies on. From memory, I just created a local 
repository, bypassed the security checks "you are about to install software 
that cant be authenticated" and used the system package manager to install 
them. Worked fine.

>From quick inspection I did not take notes while having a look into this, as 
>was just seeing what was possible. I may have used dpkg-dev to generate the 
>file that apt-get reads from, I think the actual file was generated with 
>dpkg-scanpackages.

I have an odd file with entries in it such as,
Package: openoffice
Version: 4.1.16-3
Architecture: amd64
Maintainer: Apache Software Foundation
Installed-Size: 612
Depends: openoffice-ure, openoffice-core01, openoffice-core02, 
openoffice-core03, openoffice-core04, openoffice-core05, openoffice-core06, 
openoffice-core07, openoffice-images
Replaces: openoffice.org3, openoffice.org3-dict-es, openoffice.org3-dict-en, 
openoffice.org3-dict-fr, ooobasis3.0-oooimprovement, 
ooobasis3.1-oooimprovement, ooobasis3.2-oooimprovement, 
ooobasis3.3-oooimprovement, ooobasis3.0-kde-integration, 
ooobasis3.1-kde-integration, ooobasis3.2-kde-integration, 
ooobasis3.3-kde-integration, ooobasis3.0-binfilter, ooobasis3.1-binfilter, 
ooobasis3.2-binfilter, ooobasis3.3-binfilter, ooobasis3.4-binfilter, 
ooobasis3.0-testtool, ooobasis3.1-testtool, ooobasis3.2-testtool, 
ooobasis3.3-testtool, ooobasis3.4-testtool, openoffice.org-bundled
Provides: openoffice.org-unbundled
Filename: 
./Apache_OpenOffice_4.1.16_Linux_x86-64_install-deb_en-GB/openoffice_4.1.16-3_amd64.deb
Size: 136432
MD5sum: 499a55024dffd82bd054e1abea2086f7
SHA1: fa5fadd2ff340c16a7e6f9efba77a64363600a3c
SHA256: 88ca96e9d9d3c5b9ac76aa53f2fa21972348a5cc21aa00846c017208c32cf4fb
Description: Brand module for OpenOffice 4.1.16
 Copyright: 2012-2025 by The Apache Software Foundation
 Brand module for OpenOffice 4.1.16

I think this is what apt-get liked.

During my search I found someone has made and hosted their own repository 
online, but from memory this was for an older version and not maintained.

Anyways, this was just me testing to see if I could add AOO into the system 
package manager. Seems like it is possible and requires the generation of the 
file as above, and would also need I think a key generated to say the packages 
are legit and the files need to be linked. Maybe they already are linked, but 
by memory it did not work as expected.

So will leave this as possible for now.

Faithfully,
Dean

________________________________
From: Pedro Lino via dev <[email protected]>
Sent: 14 June 2026 19:21
To: [email protected] <[email protected]>
Cc: Pedro Lino <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: Re; Creation of a repo for debian

Hi Dean

I think the major obstacle is not the absence of a repo but the fact that the 
DEB package produced by OpenOffice is not an installer (i.e. when you double 
click on it, it doesn't install).

It is simply a package that needs to be manually extracted and installed.
Therefore having it in a repo would not allow for updates (if I am not mistaken)

Another more viable option would be to create a Flatpak or an Appimage (as I 
think they are a packaging of the executables and all the dependencies)

I do not wish to discourage you (on the contrary!), just to provide some 
clarification (from my understanding as a non-programmer)

All the best,
Pedro

> On 06/14/2026 9:34 AM WEST Dean Webber <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>
> Dear all,
>
> Would be great to have access to AOO from the package manager. Perhaps it is 
> straightforward to create a repo?
>
> A quick search found a guide at, 
> https://wiki.deimos.fr/creating-a-debian-repository/
>
> Seems a few commands to create the files, then the repo can be hosted 
> somewhere on the server. I believe this would be helpful and enable another 
> pathway for access to AOO and updates.
>
> At this stage I am still learning, and in the process of a few things that 
> should help improve my understanding.
> But making progress. Slow as it may be, progress is progress.
>
> Faithfully,
> Dean

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