Re: So many package tools, apt, dselect, dpkg, which should I choose?
Yuwen Dai wrote: I'm new to Debian but not new to Linux. I find there're many packages in Debian. I'm confused. In what situation should I choose one? when you need the functionality it provides. :) many debian packages are uber-instances of redhat packages, if that helps. the hard part, i've found, is determining WHICH packages provide what you're after. on my potato, i use apt-cache search some-term-here dpkg -S some-fractional-filepath-here http://packages.debian.org/package-search-term-here mail -s 'which package does x-y-z?' \ debian-user@lists.debian.org last-resort.whine once you do find it, apt-get update apt-get install package-name-here and you're off to the races. and as always, see http://newbieDoc.sourceForge.net/system/apt-get-intro.html of course. :) -- DEBIAN NEWBIE TIP #49 from Will Trillich [EMAIL PROTECTED] : Looking to ENCODE OR DECODE SOME ROT-13 TEXT? No problem. Vg'f rnfl jvgu Ivz. It's a simple alphabet substitution where each letter changes to its counterpart 13 places away in the alphabet (a-n, g-t, etc) . Open the text in Vim, then select it (type v at one end of the text to encode/decode, then move to the other end) and then type g?. Or, to rot-13 a whole line, just g??. That's all! (Try :help g? for more info.) Also see http://newbieDoc.sourceForge.net/ ...
So many package tools, apt, dselect, dpkg, which should I choose?
Hi, All I'm new to Debian but not new to Linux. I find there're many packages in Debian. I'm confused. In what situation should I choose one? Thank you in advance. Best regards, Dai Yuwen _ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp
Re: So many package tools, apt, dselect, dpkg, which should I choose?
Yuwen Dai [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: YD I'm new to Debian but not new to Linux. I find there're many packages YD in Debian. I'm confused. In what situation should I choose one? dpkg: to install a .deb file you've already downloaded; to examine information about packages already installed on the system (e.g. 'dpkg -L packagename' to list files, 'dpkg -S /usr/bin/less' to find where a particular file comes from). APT: to install packages you haven't hand-downloaded; to examine information about packages not installed on the system (e.g. 'apt-get install xemacs21' to download and install the XEmacs text editor and all of its dependencies, 'apt-cache show xemacs21' to get more information about the package). Calls dpkg to install packages once it's downloaded them. dselect/aptitude/...: User-friendly front-ends to the whole shebang. They generally let you scroll through a list of packages and pick some to install or remove, and then do the work for you. Generally built on top of APT and dpkg. -- David Maze [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://people.debian.org/~dmaze/ Theoretical politics is interesting. Politicking should be illegal. -- Abra Mitchell
Re: So many package tools, apt, dselect, dpkg, which should I choose?
On Thu, Sep 27, 2001 at 07:12:17AM +, Yuwen Dai wrote: Hi, All I'm new to Debian but not new to Linux. I find there're many packages in Debian. I'm confused. In what situation should I choose one? Thank you in advance. Take a look at - http://www.debian.org/doc/FAQ/ch-pkgtools.html I use apt-get for installing packages off the net. If I have a .deb locally on my machine I install with dpkg. kent -- The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them. --Albert Einstein
Re: So many package tools, apt, dselect, dpkg, which should I choose?
On Thu, Sep 27, 2001 at 07:12:17AM +, Yuwen Dai wrote: Hi, All I'm new to Debian but not new to Linux. I find there're many packages in Debian. I'm confused. In what situation should I choose one? Dpkg is the program that actually installs/removes packages; the other programs just use dpkg for you. You would want to use dpkg directly if you already have a package downloaded to your hard drive (or created by you), and you know it either has no dependencies or that its dependencies are already installed. Then you just type dpkg -i filename to install it. Dpkg also provides many ways to get information on packages; look at the man page. Apt and dselect are two separate tools which use dpkg for you and automatically handle dependencies. If you try to install a package, they will automatically also install anything the package depends on. Ironically, most people find the command-line program--apt--more user-friendly and easier to deal with than the (console-based) GUI prog, dselect. Dselect is harder to get used to, but IMO learning it is worthwhile. -- Thomas J. Hamman It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it. -Aristotle
