Re: subtle difference between package managers
On Fri, 15 Jul 2005, Marty wrote:
It's not really a case of subtle differences between equivalent tools. That
seems to be a common (and, I think hazardous) misunderstanding.
It is and it isn't; see below. :)
Aptitude is an apt front-end, which makes it a functional (proper) superset
of apt because it calls apt commands, while apt itself could be thought of
as a functional superset of dpkg because it calls dpkg, which does all the
dirty work.
Aptitude has two very different faces. The full-screen version is much
more akin to dselect and company. The command-line interface is
essentially a smarter and more featureful version of apt-get, and it was
that interface I was comparing with apt-get. I should have made that
clear, but I generally use the command-line interface and was thinking
about that.
Also, posters often advise "dropping-in" aptitude in place of apt-get,
and that's where the subtlety can bite you (although if you pay
attention to what aptitude is telling you, you can avoid being bit).
[snip]
So to understand the tools properly is to see them as a hierarchy of
packaging tools. As for docs I think the apt howto is your best starting
point.
Agreed there. Just not a strict hierarchy, as it stands now.
- Aaron
--
Aaron Hall : "Depression is just anger without enthusiasm.
ahall@vitaphone.net : It's an empty beer bottle and no one worth
: throwing it at."
: -- Norma M.
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