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Ubuntu is a popular free Linux distribution that promotes “Linux for human beings”. If you read through many Ubuntu tutorials, you may notice that one of the steps is often to enable the “universe” and “multiverse” repositories. This “recipe” tells you how to enable the universe and multiverse repositories.

The universe and multiverse repositories are official Ubuntu repositories, with safe, well-tested programs. The only difference between them and the repositories enabled by default is that the universe and multiverse repositories are maintained by the Ubuntu community rather than by paid Ubuntu developers. This means that Canonical (the company that backs Ubuntu and provides paid support) does not officially support packages from these repositories. Also, be aware that some of the packages in the universe and multiverse repositories make use of patented technology (such as multimedia codecs) and may be illegal to use in your country. It is your responsibility to find more information about any patent issues that affect you. That being said, the universe and multiverse repositories bring a vast number of useful, high-quality programs to Ubuntu users everywhere.

Requirements:

• administrator privledges (able to use the “sudo” command)

Instructions:

• There are three ways to enable the universe and multiverse repositories in Ubuntu 8.04 (Hardy Heron): via the command line, via the graphical Software Sources tool, or via the Synaptic Package Manager.
• Note: This “recipe” was written for Ubuntu 8.04 (Hardy Heron), but may (or may not) work for other versions or distributions.

Command Line

To enable the universe and multiverse repositories using the command line, you can execute the following steps:

1. Open a terminal and open your sources.list:
sudo gedit /etc/apt/sources.list

2. Assuming you are using the default sources.list, you should be able to replace everything currently in that file with the following:
## MAIN REPOSITORIES
deb http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ hardy main restricted universe multiverse

## MAJOR BUG FIX UPDATES produced after the final release
deb http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ hardy-updates main restricted universe multiverse

## UBUNTU SECURITY UPDATES
deb http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu hardy-security main restricted universe multiverse

3. If you wish to enable the backports and proposed repositories as well (recommended), then add these lines as well:

## BACKPORTS REPOSITORY
deb http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ hardy-backports main restricted universe multiverse

## PROPOSED REPOSITORY
deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu hardy-proposed main restricted universe multiverse

4. Now save and close the file, and then reload package information:
sudo apt-get update

5. If that command runs with no errors, then you have successfully enabled the universe and multiverse repositories.

Software Sources

To enable the universe and multiverse repositories using the Software Sources tool, you can execute the following steps:

1. Open System->Administration->Software Sources

2. Input your administrative password if you are prompted to do so. Once the program loads, check the boxes next to “Community-maintained Open Source software (universe)” and “Software restricted by copyright or legal issues (multiverse)”.

3. Next, close Software Sources. A dialog will prompt you to reload the package information. Click the “reload” button.

4. If you do not see any errors, then you have successfully enabled the universe and multiverse repositories.

Synaptic

To enable the universe and multiverse repositories using the Synaptic Package Manager, you can execute the following steps:

1. Open System->Administration->Synaptic Package Manager

2. Input your administrative password if you are prompted to do so. Once the program loads, look at the menu at the top. Click Settings->Repositories.

3. Check the boxes next to “Community-maintained Open Source software (universe)” and “Software restricted by copyright or legal issues (multiverse)”.

4. Close the Repositories window. A dialog will appear and prompt you to reload the package information. Click the “reload” button.

5. If you do not see any errors, then you have successfully enabled the universe and multiverse repositories.

Tags: system admin, ubuntu