About this site
This is a public repository of screenshots taken from applications contained in the Debian GNU/Linux distribution and its derivates like Ubuntu. It was created to help getting an impression of what a certain software will look like on your desktop before you install it. Everybody can take screenshots and upload them. Our admin team will just review your changes before they become publicly visible.
Which packages are listed?
The information on packages listed on this site is taken from APT repositories like Debian or Ubuntu. We are just throwing out packages that are bad candidates for screenshots like transitional packages, header files or debug packages. The repositories that we are scanning frequently are:
- http://ubuntu.intergenia.de/ubuntu/dists/maverick/main/binary-i386/Packages.bz2
- http://ubuntu.intergenia.de/ubuntu/dists/maverick/universe/binary-i386/Packages.bz2
- http://ftp.de.debian.org/debian/dists/sid/main/binary-i386/Packages.bz2
- http://ubuntu.intergenia.de/ubuntu/dists/natty/main/binary-i386/Packages.bz2
- http://ubuntu.intergenia.de/ubuntu/dists/oneiric/main/binary-i386/Packages.bz2
- http://ubuntu.intergenia.de/ubuntu/dists/precise/main/binary-i386/Packages.bz2
- http://ubuntu.intergenia.de/ubuntu/dists/precise/universe/binary-i386/Packages.bz2
Who is using this site?
Many users of Debian or Ubuntu visit this site to just browse through the huge pool of packages visually. It is obviously much easier to just look at screenshots than install various packages just to try them out. And other users are not even aware they are using this site. This is because tools like "Synaptic" or Ubuntu's "Software Center" are loading screenshots from here.
How you can use the screenshots
You can use the screenshots on your own website. Some useful URLs:
-
http://screenshots.debian.net/packages
(List of all packages with screenshots) -
http://screenshots.debian.net/package/PACKAGENAME
(Page with details and screenshots for a certain package) -
http://screenshots.debian.net/thumbnail/PACKAGENAME
(Returns a thumbnail (160x120 pixels or less) of a package's first found screenshot. If no screenshot was found then a dummy image will be returned along with the HTTP code 404.) -
http://screenshots.debian.net/screenshot/PACKAGENAME
(Returns a screenshot (800x600 pixels or less) of a package. If no screenshot was found then a dummy image will be returned along with the HTTP code 404.) -
http://screenshots.debian.net/rss
(An RSS feed showing the most recently uploaded screenshots.)
If you would like to get a complete list of packages or screenshots in JSON format then contact us and we will give you the URL.
Uploading new screenshots
Whether you are a developer or not - we appreciate if you upload screenshots. See if your favorite package does not yet have a screenshot and upload one.
Statistics
We currently have 42817 packages in our database. 3428 of them have screenshots. That makes a total of 8.0%. We have 4707 screenshots on the server which means every package has an average number of 1.4 screenshots.
Who is behind this site?
This site has been developed and is maintained by Christoph Haas with help of Paul Wise.
This web site's software
This site runs on debshots - a Pylons-based web application written by Christoph Haas. debshots also uses SQLAlchemy for accesing its PostgreSQL database, the jQuery Javascript library and its flyout, autocomplete, jGrowl and cycle plugins. Further code has been contributed by Michael Vogt - programmer of Synaptic and Ubuntu's Software Center.
If you are interested in looking at its source code then check out its development home page listing known issues and desired features at debshots.workaround.org. The software is still actively developed and improved.