How to automate updating of `*.deb` files in scattered locations

or: I don't want to check every Zoom update with my own eyes. Really.

Now you can use apt update as usual, which will check on its own. Nothing special.

⚠ Warning ⚠

This repository is just a sample and not yet generalized enough. You'll need to edit files yourself, especially update-index.

Currently, it includes definitions of

You've created a local APT repository in /usr/local/mydebs directory
- setup.sh is a simple copier with few lines
  - /etc/apt/sources.list.d/mydebs.list
  - /etc/apt/apt.conf.d/99mydebs-update
  - /usr/local/mydebs/update-index
The script update-index is called whenever you invoke apt update
- with APT::Update::Pre-Invoke hook in 99mydebs-update
It checks remote *.deb files and downloads them only if updated
- with wget -N timestamp-checking option
Then builds two files to behave as a local repository
- Packages and Release with apt-ftparchive command (It's useful even without FTP)

So you don't need to watch webpages of companies and/or GitHub release pages anymore if you setup once.

This repository is just a recap/rehash of niry's answer in askubuntu.com: Updating Zoom in the terminal.

I've been living by Debian for over 15 years, but I had no idea I could apt update from local sources. Thanks a lot.