rolfie wrote:

The main repo is missing.

http://deb.devuan.org/merged beowulf main contrib non-free 

Consider if you need to complie packages. If not, disable the deb-src lines.

What does non-free mean in this context? Licenses other than GPL, MIT, and their kin?

Have a read: https://www.debian.org/intro/free.en.html

non-free means code that is propriatry. Unfortunately you will need non-free stuff to get your tg3 working.

Same with me and my AMD GPUs.

rolfie

The main repo is missing.

http://deb.devuan.org/merged beowulf main contrib non-free 

Consider if you need to complie packages. If not, disable the deb-src lines.

What does non-free mean in this context? Licenses other than GPL, MIT, and their kin?

I need to compile emulators and hex editors, it won't hurt to keep the source lines in there.

Thanks for clarifying, I don't know how I missed this.

cat /etc/apt/sources.list
# 

# deb cdrom:[Devuan GNU/Linux 3.0 (beowulf) amd64 - desktop 20200526]/ beowulf contrib main non-free

# deb cdrom:[Devuan GNU/Linux 3.0 (beowulf) amd64 - desktop 20200526]/ beowulf contrib main non-free

# A network mirror was not selected during install.  The following entries
# are provided as examples, but you should amend them as appropriate
# for your mirror of choice.
#
deb http://deb.devuan.org/merged beowulf-security main
deb-src http://deb.devuan.org/merged beowulf-security main

# beowulf-updates, previously known as 'volatile'
# A network mirror was not selected during install.  The following entries
# are provided as examples, but you should amend them as appropriate
# for your mirror of choice.
#
deb http://deb.devuan.org/merged beowulf-updates main
deb-src http://deb.devuan.org/merged beowulf-updates main

1. Got any other sources I should use (mirrors, for instance), and if so can you tell me why (or point me towards something that will tell me what and why)?

The main repo is missing.

http://deb.devuan.org/merged beowulf main contrib non-free 

Consider if you need to complie packages. If not, disable the deb-src lines.

Scan through https://www.devuan.org/. There is a lot of useful information.

Enabling contrib non-free does not mean everything in there is installed automatically. You have to install packages from non-free explicitely to have them available. Once they are installed they are maintained automatically. Example:

apt install firmware-linux-nonfree

You may also install non-free packages, and then disable the non-free section in the sources.list again. Your choice. But then the stuff is no more updated.

This is not recommended at all.

Look for "Banned packages" on the Devuan web page.

rolfie

~$ cat /etc/apt/sources.list
# 

# deb cdrom:[Devuan GNU/Linux 3.0 (beowulf) amd64 - desktop 20200526]/ beowulf contrib main non-free

deb cdrom:[Devuan GNU/Linux 3.0 (beowulf) amd64 - desktop 20200526]/ beowulf contrib main non-free

# A network mirror was not selected during install.  The following entries
# are provided as examples, but you should amend them as appropriate
# for your mirror of choice.
#
# deb http://deb.devuan.org/merged beowulf-security main
# deb-src http://deb.devuan.org/merged beowulf-security main

# beowulf-updates, previously known as 'volatile'
# A network mirror was not selected during install.  The following entries
# are provided as examples, but you should amend them as appropriate
# for your mirror of choice.
#
# deb http://deb.devuan.org/merged beowulf-updates main
# deb-src http://deb.devuan.org/merged beowulf-updates main

~$ grep -v '^#\|^$' /etc/apt/sources.list{,.d/*}
/etc/apt/sources.list:deb cdrom:[Devuan GNU/Linux 3.0 (beowulf) amd64 - desktop 20200526]/ beowulf contrib main non-free
grep: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/*: No such file or directory

Okay then, I uncommented the non-CD/DVD sources and commented the CD-DVD ones. Apt seems to be updating so this will be my last post for the day while everything updates and I fiddle with software.

cat /etc/apt/sources.list
# 

# deb cdrom:[Devuan GNU/Linux 3.0 (beowulf) amd64 - desktop 20200526]/ beowulf contrib main non-free

# deb cdrom:[Devuan GNU/Linux 3.0 (beowulf) amd64 - desktop 20200526]/ beowulf contrib main non-free

# A network mirror was not selected during install.  The following entries
# are provided as examples, but you should amend them as appropriate
# for your mirror of choice.
#
deb http://deb.devuan.org/merged beowulf-security main
deb-src http://deb.devuan.org/merged beowulf-security main

# beowulf-updates, previously known as 'volatile'
# A network mirror was not selected during install.  The following entries
# are provided as examples, but you should amend them as appropriate
# for your mirror of choice.
#
deb http://deb.devuan.org/merged beowulf-updates main
deb-src http://deb.devuan.org/merged beowulf-updates main

1. Got any other sources I should use (mirrors, for instance), and if so can you tell me why (or point me towards something that will tell me what and why)?

2. Got anything to read RE mirrors and how that helps me or Devuan in general?

3. What about more esoteric stuff, like automatically: file-sharing sources, verifying their authenticity, and possibly seeding them for other users? If I did it, would other people use it? What additional safety precautions would I need to take on my end to ensure everyone's safety and security?

4. If I wanted to automatically install and update say Pale Moon, Brave, or something else, would they likely have equivalents to the links above that I can add to my sources.list?

5. What about automatically installing, detecting stable updates/releases, and downloading/compiling/installing other stuff that doesn't provide debs?

edit

During the upgrade (which was blessedly fast and simple compared to Windows 10), I noticed this:

/etc/kernel/postinst.d/initramfs-tools:
update-initramfs: Generating /boot/initrd.img-4.19.0-9-amd64
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/tigon/tg3_tso5.bin for module tg3
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/tigon/tg3_tso.bin for module tg3
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/tigon/tg3.bin for module tg3

A search indicates it could prevent network cards from working after reboot. If that's an issue, the same says that I need to add non-free to my sources.
https://thespecter.net/blog/technology/ … odule-tg3/

Going back to the link rolfie posted:

Is there any way to specify that I only want certain software from a specific source? I do a lot of emulation and rom-hacking stuff, and the authors of programs for such love to require the latest stable versions for compilation.

edit

How would I add package sources from debian while restricting it to the subsets that don't require things that are forbidden in devuan?

Where can I see the list of packages that are forbidden?

cat /etc/apt/sources.list

here is my sources/list

# 

# deb cdrom:[Devuan GNU/Linux 3.0 (beowulf) amd64 - netinstall 20200526]/ beowulf contrib main non-free

#deb cdrom:[Devuan GNU/Linux 3.0 (beowulf) amd64 - netinstall 20200526]/ beowulf contrib main non-free

deb http://deb.devuan.org/merged beowulf main non-free contrib
# deb-src http://deb.devuan.org/merged beowulf main non-free contrib

deb http://deb.devuan.org/merged beowulf-security main contrib non-free
# deb-src http://deb.devuan.org/merged beowulf-security main contrib non-free

# beowulf-updates, previously known as 'volatile'
deb http://deb.devuan.org/merged beowulf-updates main contrib non-free
# deb-src http://deb.devuan.org/merged beowulf-updates main contrib non-free

deb http://deb.devuan.org/merged beowulf-backports main contrib non-free

# This system was installed using small removable media
# (e.g. netinst, live or single CD). The matching "deb cdrom"
# entries were disabled at the end of the installation process.
# For information about how to configure apt package sources,
# see the sources.list(5) manual.

rolfie

~$ sudo apt update
[sudo] password for MysticLord: 
Ign:1 cdrom://[Devuan GNU/Linux 3.0 (beowulf) amd64 - desktop 20200526] beowulf InRelease
Err:2 cdrom://[Devuan GNU/Linux 3.0 (beowulf) amd64 - desktop 20200526] beowulf Release
  Please use apt-cdrom to make this CD-ROM recognized by APT. apt-get update cannot be used to add new CD-ROMs
Reading package lists... Done
E: The repository 'cdrom://[Devuan GNU/Linux 3.0 (beowulf) amd64 - desktop 20200526] beowulf Release' does not have a Release file.
N: Updating from such a repository can't be done securely, and is therefore disabled by default.
N: See apt-secure(8) manpage for repository creation and user configuration details.

Thoughts? What should I do to give you more info?

I have a working internet connection for my laptop.