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I am using the standard (Unity) Ubuntu 16.04 version and would like to try GNOME Builder.

This answer suggests using the gnome3-team/gnome3-staging PPA for this. After adding the PPA, apt-get upgrade suggests upgrading a lot of packages that are in the system already although I don't have GNOME installed. I am curious what are the chances that the updated GNOME project components will happen to be incompatible with Unity and break the system.

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Ivan
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1 Answers1

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First of all, gnome-builder is available in Standard Ubuntu repository for Ubuntu 16.04 Xenial Xerus. The answer was for 15.10 I assume.

$ apt-cache policy gnome-builder
gnome-builder:
  Installed: (none)
  Candidate: 3.18.1-2ubuntu1
  Version table:
     3.18.1-2ubuntu1 500
        500 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial/universe amd64 Packages

Secondly, using PPAs means you're using some custom distribution. You're no longer on Ubuntu's upgrade path. It's OK as long as you're able to tackle any issue rising from using these PPAs.

Specifically, Gnome3 Staging PPA will likely to break your GNOME installation very much. Other Gnome software might not work with the latest versions of gnome libraries and hence you'll be unable to install them. However, you can always use ppa-purge to return back to Ubuntu repository.

My personal experience with gnome3-staging PPA is very bad. I would not recommend not to use that PPA to anyone who is willing to stay on Stable path.

Quoting from PPA page directly,

=== WARNING ===
The packages here have been deemed not ready for general use, they have known
bugs and/or regressions, sometimes of a critical nature.
Mostly things should run smoothly but be prepared to use ppa-purge, when you encounter issues! 

<p>If they break your system, you get to keep both halves.</p>
Anwar
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