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Asked: 2011-04-09 07:01:25 +0800 CST

Is anyone aware of any progress made in packing updated versions of tracker (desktop search tool)?

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I understand that tracker is no longer installed by default on the Ubuntu desktop. Nevertheless, I really like having a desktop search tool. (When I used to work with Windows XP I thought that Google Desktop was a killer app!).

I recently upgraded to Natty and reinstalled tracker. I noticed that the most updated version found in Universe (and on the Tracker stable PPA) is of version 0.8.17, yet looking at the Tracker website apparently the most updated version is 0.10, and they are working on 0.11. WOuld love to know if we should expect updates and if work is being done for integration with Unity.

I would also love to know if there are any real alternatives to have a desktop search tool which cleanly integrates with Unity (which has become default with Natty).

11.04

4 Answers

  1. Tracker's packages are sync'd from the Debian project as is a lot of the software in the Ubuntu repositories. So getting an updated version depends on the upstream keeping the package updated and getting it updated in Debian. From there it will be sync'd into the Ubuntu repositories every new release.

    I'm uncertain of Tracker's life in the Ubuntu project. Zeitgeist has replaced Tracker in Unity for desktop searching and indexing and is already integrated into the Unity interface. Using Dash you can search through files, folders, contacts, applications, and many other aspects of the desktop - all powered through Zeitgeist.

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  2. From http://irclogs.ubuntu.com/2011/04/04/%23ubuntu-desktop.txt:

    <seb128> chrisccoulson, btw should be [we] try to get tracker 0.10 synced from debian or something,
    <seb128> ?
    <seb128> it seems like that's the sort of things where we should better get the current serie
    <chrisccoulson> seb128 - i don't mind. i haven't tried it yet (i haven't looked at tracker in ages)
    <chrisccoulson> it probably would be good to have though

    So I'd be mildly optimistic that Tracker 0.10 will land in Ubuntu 11.04. There's also a bug report to follow.

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  3. OK, after a while, turns out that there is indeed progress done on that front. Following this bug report (previously mentioned in @htorque's answer) the new stable release of tracker 0.10.x is indeed packaged and will be in the universe repository of Ubuntu. Mild bad news, it is currently only packaged for oneiric (11.10) - hope this changes and it is backported to Natty.

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  4. More progress: Precise 12.04 packages Tracker version 0.14.0-2ubuntu1

    But it is not installed by default.

    See also What is the best desktop search tool? - Ask Ubuntu

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