Linux Package Management

Good link on apt-get vs apt vs dpkg.

10 flashcards · Programming Languages · by lakesare

1. What does dpkg stand for?

   dpkg stands for debian package.

2. What does .deb file contain?

   1. files needed by an application to run 2. "meta-data" that holds names of the dependencies the application needs.

3. What is the difference between apt-get and dpkg?

   dpkg will just install the .deb file, but will not install its dependencies. apt-get will look for the dependencies and install them. It can only install packages from http. apt-get uses dpkg under the hood.

4. apt vs apt-get?

   apt is just an improved interface for apt-get and apt-cache introduced in Ubuntu 16.

5. What does apt stand for?

   advanced packaging tool

6. What to do if there is no officially packaged software, but vendor does offer a .deb file for download?

   If you click on the .deb file, Ubuntu Software Center will get opened. Or: To install local .deb, use: sudo dpkg -i hi.deb If a package has unmet dependencies, use gdebi: sudo gdebi hi.deb

7. Ubuntu Software Center is basically frontend for apt commands.

8. What does PPA stand for?

   Personal Package Archive

9. What steps are needed to install some package from PPA?

   sudo add-apt-repository ppa:user/games adds a PPA to your list of sources, so that Ubuntu knows to look for updates from that PPA as well as from the official Ubuntu sources. sudo apt-get update apt-get will see your newly-added PPA and discover that ppa:user/games has the newest version of dota that it knows about. sudo apt-get install dota searches all available package sources and installs dota with the highest version number.

10. apt keeps its list of sources in /etc/apt/sources.list and in /etc/apt/sources.list.d/*.list files.