Search Results for apt
aptsh, an easier APT
I mostly use APT from the command line, as that's pretty easy for me. To my mind, it doesn't get much easier than
apt-get update && apt-get upgrade, or apt-get install package, or apt-get
remove package, or even apt-cache search package. However, people are always seeking to make APT
easier, which is definitely cool, so we've seen the creation of a GUI tool for APT, called
Synaptic, that's very cool, and many other GUI tools for APT as well,
suck as Adept and
Kynaptic, for instance. Now, however, we have a simpler way to use APT
on the command line with aptsh, which acts like a shell for APT. Type aptsh,
& you're then able to type some simplified commands for APT, like these:
install packagename
remove packagename
search searchterm
update
upgrade
And so on. To see the full list, just press Tab twice. Or read the
documentation for aptsh ... it ain't that hard.
Personally, I'll probably stick to what I know, but some of you might find this to be just the ...
Quick overview of Debian's APT
One of the best things about Debian is APT, the package management system that makes installing & deleting
software & associated dependencies faaaaar easier than that process is on any other distro. All other package
management schemes are far less capable than APT, and once you master APT, you'll agree. Linux Journal has
published an excerpt from Linux Patch Management: Keeping Linux Systems Up to Date titled "Making apt Work for You: A Book Excerpt". It's a great
overview of the various commands you can use with APT, & it's well worth your perusal. I especially like the table
that lists the various apt-related software, many of which I didn't know. Read this one, people - it's helpful, and
that's all I ask in something I point ya to.
(And by the way - I wrote an article in Linux Magazine on APT for RPM-based systems a few years ago that some of you
non-Debian-usin' folk might like.)
(Check out all of our posts on Debian and APT.) ...
Everything you ever wanted to know about APT
I've said it before, & I'll say it again: Debian's APT is a wonderful way to install & manage software on a
Linux system. The basics are easy enough - apt-get update, apt-get upgrade, apt-get
install, & apt-get remove will cover the vast majority of your needs - but there's always more
to learn.
If you already know the basics, then the
Debian package management guide is what you
need. It's a list of commands & what they do, and it would be great to print & use. Of course, you'll need to
clean it up a bit first if you want to print it, but it's still eminently usable.
If you're more of a newbie to APT, then you should read NewsForge's
An apt-get primer, which is a very
good overview. After reading it, you'll be able to use APT effectively, & you'll certainly understand the beauty of
APT much better.
Finally, in the "it's always good to learn more" category, we have
apt-build: Optimize Debian packages for your system,
which teaches you how to recompile software ...
A (way) better APT for Fedora Core
So I'm reading this review of Fedora Core 3 last
night, when I notice that Dag Wieers, the main dude behind the best Fedora Core APT repository, has
responded to the review in the comments. I
noticed in particular this bit o' info in the last para of his comment that I think bears pointing to:
Something the article could have mentioned is the new Smart Package Manager that is the first tool that allows to
use _all_ repositories in a very smart way. It avoids conflicts, allows users to control what package they want for
what distribution and in fact gives the user control. It does not force the user to choose one over another, it
allows users to pick what they need. You can find the Smart Package Manager RPM package for FC3 at:
http://dag.wieers.com/packages/smart/ and it comes pre-configured
with 13 (!) repositories, even with fedora.us and livna.org, although fedora.us is not yet active. Smart has been
designed from the bottom up by Gustavo Niemeyer, the same person that ported apt to ...
A guide to installing software with Synaptic, a GUI for APT
As regular readers know, my fave distro is Debian, or anything Debian-based, primarily because of the awesome
software installing & updating power of APT. Now, personally, I use APT on the command line; at least once per day,
I run apt-get update && apt-get upgrade, & life is good. However, some folks prefer a GUI. For
them, Synaptic is their tool of choice. TUX magazine just published a good intro to Synaptic that anyone interested in
learning more should read: "Libranet: Installing Software the Easy
Way". It's worth reading, & Synaptic is worth using. ...
Have you mooed today?
Using Debian? Try this as root:
apt-get moo
Pretty cute, eh? ...
Kubuntu day #5: The Software
OK, I've been talking it up all day. Ya ready to actually download the dang thing? You can
download it directly or via BitTorrent (ya know which one I
recommend).
Orrrrrr … you can get the latest greatest ISO image, with KDE 3.4.2 & other bleeding edge goodies, by clicking
on this link (WARNING! 675 MB ISO image!)
Even better, if you want to upgrade to KDE 3.4.2 from an older Kubuntu, just go
here and add the lines you see to /etc/apt/sources.list, then do
ye olde apt-get update && apt-get dist-upgrade.
(Check out all of my posts on
Kubuntu.) ...
OpenOffice.org 2 for K/Ubuntu
The latest versions of K/Ubuntu came with very, very late betas of OpenOffice.org 2, but since then OOo came out of
beta, but K/Ubuntu hasn't been updated. Fortunately, in open source fashion, one Ubuntu user has compiled OOo2 &
made it available for users to download. I'm using it, & things work just fine. To upgrade your OOo2, you need to
edit your /etc/apt/sources.list file, AKA your repository list if you use Synaptic. I use the command line, so I first
ran this:
sudo vim /etc/apt/sources.list
Then I added this line:
deb http://people.ubuntu.com/~doko/OOo2 ./
I saved & closed the file, & then ran the following commands:
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get upgrade
APT wanted to update OOo2, so I told it to go ahead. A bit later, I had the latest & greatest OOo2 running on my
Kubuntu machine. Beautiful.
(For more on this stuff, see this post on the Ubuntu
Forums.)
(Check out all of our posts on
OpenOffice.org,
Ubuntu,
Kubuntu, ...
Awesome way to generate Ubuntu sources.list file
Man, the guys at Ubuntu are innovating all the time! If you're a K/Ubuntu user and you're the slightest bit
adventurous, you're probably interested in expanding your software horizons, which means expanding your
/etc/apt/sources.list file. You can look all over the Net & try to find repositories to add, or you
can people like me that have heavily customized their sources.list files, or ... you can use the K/Ubuntu
Sources.list generator. Go down the list, check boxes next to
any repositories that look interesting, then click the Submit button. Cut & paste the results in your
sources.list files, and bam! You're ready to experiment. This is ultra-cool stuff!
(Check out all of our posts on Ubuntu, Kubuntu, and APT.) ...
Install the JRE in Debian
As I recently pointed out, Sun finally changed its license so that distros like Debian can include the Sun JRE. Thanks, Sun! Here's the command you need to run:
apt-get install sun-java5-jre sun-java5-plugin sun-java5-fonts sun-java5-bin
That'll do it, fair readers.
(Check out all of our posts on Sun and Java.) ...
Firefox 1.0.4 released
Firefox 1.0.4 is out now, for Windows, Mac OS X, and
Linux.
If you're using Windows, just look for the little red circle in the upper right of the browser window. Click on it,
and update your browser. Pretty simple, really.
If you're using Debian, like I am (actually, Libranet 3.0 & Kanotix), just do apt-get install
mozilla-firefox -t unstable, & you'll have it in no time. I'm sure that Fedora Core & SUSE will both be
pushing it out soon enough using their software update mechanisms (APT or YUM for FC, & YAST for SUSE).
If you're using a Mac, I have no idea what to do. I haven't bought my Mini yet!
Read the release notes, OK? It's just a
good idea.
Why 1.0.4? Well, it's to fix the security problems that were found recently. More on that later today.
(Check out all my postings on
Firefox.) ...
MSFT cheaper to patch than Linux …
... says MSFT lackeys at Wipro, the Indian consulting firm. Yup,
another so-called "independent" study has
confirmed that Linux is just too gosh-darn difficult to patch, and that, and I quote, "Microsoft helps address
vulnerabilities faster than Linux distributors, enabling organizations to update their Windows environment more quickly
than with open source alternatives". Gad, what a load of absolute hooey.
Do y'all believe this? After all the problems over the last 5 years with patching MSFT? The reboots, the patches
that break other stuff, the patches that don't fix the problem, the never-ending stream of patches that keep coming and
coming and result in full-time jobs for some IT people?
Man, I'll take apt-get update && apt-get upgrade any day over the MSFT way. But I guess that's
'cause I don't read the right studies.
(Check out all of my posts on patches.) ...
KDE 3.5 released!
Yesterday saw a big announcement: KDE 3.5 has been released! Want to know what's new & cool? Read
"KDE 3.5 Feature Plan". Want pictures
along with your description of new stuff? Check out "KDE
3.5: A Visual Guide to New Features". It's an excellent list, with some awesome items that really come clear thanks
to that Visual Guide. This is a VERY nice release of KDE.
Want to download it? Binaries are available for Arch Linux, Kubuntu, Slackware, & SuSE. In particular, since I'm
using Kubuntu, I went to "KDE 3.5 Released with Kubuntu
Packages" and followed the quite simple instructions there. Afterwards, a simple sudo apt-get update
&& sudo apt-get upgrade, a reboot, & I was running the lastest KDE 3.5!
(Check out all of our posts on KDE,
Kubuntu,
Slackware, &
SUSE.) ...
Brilliant guide to installing software in K/Ubuntu
Windows & Mac OS make it really, really simple to install software because there's really only one way to install: click on Setup.exe or Install.exe in the case of Windows, or a .dmg in the case of Mac OS. Linux is more difficult because there's such a variety of packaging formats. Now here comes the excellent How to install ANYTHING in Ubuntu!, which delivers exactly what it says. This puppy covers the package manager as a concept, the APT GUI Synaptic, using APT via the terminal (my preferred method), and how to install a package manually, no matter if that package is a .deb, .rpm, .tar.gz, .sh, .bin, or even a .exe. And while the title is for Ubuntu, this guide works for pretty much any Debian-based distro. Read & bookmark this one, guys - it's a keeper!
(Check out all of our posts on K/Ubuntu & software installation.) ...
Why dogs are betters than cats
Have you guys ever heard of "dog"? It's better than "cat"!
If you're using Debian, just apt-get install dog.
Once it's installed, find out more with man dog, which will tell you: "dog writes the contents of each
given file, URL, or the standard input if none are given or when a file named '-' is given, to the standard output. It
currently supports the file, http, and raw URL types. It is designed as a compatible, but enhanced, replacement of
cat(1)."
Try it with: dog http://www.granneman.com.
Is that not cool or what? ...
