Beyond Synaptic--Using apt for Better Package Management

"I'll start with a brief history lesson. The 'Advanced packaging tool' was introduced in 1998 and first included in a Debian release (2.1 or slink) in 1999. There is no single apt application to speak of, instead it's a series of tools and functions originally designed as a front-end to dpkg--the software at the heart of Debian's package management (it now also support RPM backends). There are several front-ends to apt itself including: Synaptic, aptitude and Adept but I want to look specifically at the base command-line tools--not that there's anything wrong with the front-ends.

"One of the advantages of apt is the repository management. Like most packaging systems, apt uses its repositories to find and retrieve packages..."

Complete Story

Related Stories:

• How Do You Install Linux Applications?(Jan 14, 2008)
• First Look at PCLinuxOS 2008 'MiniMe' Edition(Jan 09, 2008)
• The Convenient Fiction of Distributions(Nov 30, 2007)
• Dealing with .rpmnew and .rpmsave Files(Nov 26, 2007)