How to install older version of library (libfreetype6) from binary

Question

I am trying to install an older version of libfreetype6. Specifically I found the version that I want here: https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/freetype/2.8.1-2ubuntu2

When I do sudo apt install libfreetype6=2.8.1-2ubuntu2 then I get:

E: Version '2.8.1-2ubuntu2' for 'libfreetype6' was not found

I want to install the binary; don't want to build. And also this is important: I want to make sure that none of the packages that depend on libfreetype6 get uninstalled, nor altered in any way, during the process.

I also see a bunch of package files on the above mentioned launchpad.net page, but I'm not sure which to choose, and not sure how to install from package file either. Please help. Thanks.

Answer 1

The problem is that you want to install an older version of a file. This is not always a good idea, but it is possible to at least attempt it.

Once you know the name and version you want, you can search for it at Ubuntu's packages site. It's located here:

https://packages.ubuntu.com/

Once you find the version you want, you need to find the architecture. Most often, this is AMD64. Either way, it's down on the left and will be under downloads. Make sure you click the right architecture.

If you don't already have this information, run this in your terminal:

lscpu

It'll look something like this:

With that data in hand, you can click on the correct architecture and the following page will have a list of mirrors. Any of those should work and you can download them in the usual way, from browser to wget. Once downloaded, they'll be in .deb format, you can install them as you would any other package.

Notes: This won't always work. There will be files that have unmet dependencies and following them deeper and deeper will eventually mean you run out of options and you'll have made your system unstable and difficult to maintain.

If you're having issues finding the file, you can use a regular search engine and just add +.deb to the filename. Then, exercising caution you may more easily find the links to the file(s) you're after.