Re: Dselect wont show installed programs
Robert Ian Smit <robian@wanadoo.nl> writes:
> On Fri, Sep 13, 2002 at 12:06:12AM +0100, Colin Watson wrote:
>> > What is wrong with that?
>>
>> The chief problem with apt-get is that it doesn't show Recommends: and
>> Suggests: (and isn't designed to do so - it was originally just a test
>> program for the apt libraries). Since package maintainers often use
>> these fields to provide extra information to users, you lose out by
>> using a tool that doesn't tell you about them.
>
> I can see that the extra information can be useful. I don't think I
> need that information too often though. I either know what I want or
> I turn to other sources of information to find out what software
> forfills a given need.
That's not always so easy to find out. Some packages are rather
crippled if you don't install their Recommended: packages, and it's
usually not at all obvious why some functionality is missing. In most
cases, you really want to install all Recommended: packages, and you
should consider installing Suggested: packages.
> As I understand it, apt-get will make sure that any piece of
> software just works.
Not necessarily. apt-get can't always do a very good job of dependency
resolution. It can be pretty easy to get your system into a broken
state that's tough to fix with apt-get alone, especially if you track
unstable.
Also, apt-get tends to be too quiet. For example, it may decide
to hold back a whole bunch of packages without giving the user any hints
as to why.
apt-get is useful for times when you know exactly what package you want
to install. However, it's a rather inadequate for tracking updates to
continuously-changing distributions.
--
People said I was dumb, but I proved them!
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