Many Linux users face the challenge of needing to install packages without root privileges. While APT (Advanced Packaging Tool) primarily operates at system level, there are workarounds for user-space installations.

Extract packages to your home directory without installing:

mkdir ~/my_packages
apt download package-name
dpkg -x package-name.deb ~/my_packages

For more complex installations that require root simulation:

fakeroot apt-get install -d package-name --download-only
mkdir -p ~/local/apt
cp -r /var/cache/apt/archives/* ~/local/apt/
dpkg -x ~/local/apt/package-name.deb ~/local

Consider these alternatives designed for home directory use:

• Nix: Single-user installation available
• GNU Stow: For managing symlinks to home directory installations
• Homebrew (Linuxbrew): Originally for macOS, now supports Linux

Installation script for user-space package management:

/bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)"
echo 'eval "$(/home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/bin/brew shellenv)"' >> ~/.bashrc
source ~/.bashrc
brew install package-name

For advanced users willing to modify apt behavior:

echo 'APT::Get::Assume-Yes "true";' >> ~/.apt.conf
echo 'APT::Get::force-yes "true";' >> ~/.apt.conf

Note: This doesn't bypass root requirements but helps with automation.

Modern approaches using containers:

podman run -it -v $HOME/packages:/packages ubuntu bash
apt-get install -d package-name
cp -r /var/cache/apt/archives/* /packages/

When working on shared Linux systems or maintaining multiple project environments, installing packages system-wide often isn't viable. The standard apt-get install command places files in system directories like /usr/bin, requiring root privileges and potentially affecting other users.

While APT itself doesn't natively support home directory installation, we can leverage dpkg with some clever tricks:

# First download the package
apt download package-name

# Then extract to home directory
dpkg -x package-name.deb ~/.local/

This extracts the package contents to ~/.local, but note that:

• Dependencies won't be automatically resolved
• The package won't appear in dpkg -l listings
• You'll need to manually add binaries to your PATH

A more robust solution involves creating a fake root environment using fakeroot and dpkg:

mkdir -p ~/alt-root
fakeroot dpkg -i --force-not-root --root=$HOME/alt-root package.deb

Then add this to your .bashrc:

export PATH="$HOME/alt-root/usr/bin:$PATH"
export LD_LIBRARY_PATH="$HOME/alt-root/usr/lib:$LD_LIBRARY_PATH"

For more complex needs, consider these options:

# Using Podman/Docker
podman run -it -v $HOME/project:/project ubuntu bash
apt-get install package && cp -r /usr /project/usr-local

# Using proot
proot -b ~/fake-root:/ bash
apt-get install package

For permanent solutions, evaluate these alternatives:

• Nix: Single-user installation with curl -L https://nixos.org/nix/install | sh
• Guix: User-space package manager with --profile=~/.guix-profile
• Conda: conda install -p ~/local-env package