Richard Owlett wrote: > PREAMBLE: > I've downloaded a .deb file. > I've recently done such an install but don't remember how. > Looking at the man pages for apt, apt-get, aptitude didn't help. > Couldn't come up with useful search term for wiki. > Eventually recalled "dpkg -i" which worked. > > QUESTION: > How would someone find the answer if the answer wasn't already known? > I went thru the same sequence last time.
i usually start with man pages by habit so: $ man -k deb and then look through the list of replies and see what catches my interest and then look at what those man pages say: one is: "dpkg (1) - package manager for Debian" $ man dpkg there are other more general references available too that describe overall operation of a Debian system and what can be done. debian-reference and debian-handbook... songbird