"The Advanced Packaging Tool (APT) is a distinguishing feature of Debian-based systems. APT was the first major alternative in GNU/Linux to boast automatic dependency resolution. Most GNU/Linux users know it through the apt-get command, a utility that calls on the lower-level dpkg command. However, other APT-based utilities remain largely unknown to desktop users. Some of these utilities offer a range of functionality far beyond those of the basic tools.
"These functions include setting up package sources (apt-cdrom and apt-spy), querying package information (apt-cache and apt-rdepends), extracting the latest list of bugs associated with a package (apt-listbugs), and receiving automatic updates (apt-watch). Many can be run from any account; you need the root account only for the final stages of configuration or the installation and removal of packages..."
