6.2.3 aptitude
aptitude is a new menu-driven package installer similar to
dselect but built from scratch on top of APT. It can be used as
an alternative to apt-get for most commands. See
aptitude(1) and /usr/share/doc/aptitude/README.
Once you start using aptitude it is best to continue using it
rather than alternative methods of installing packages; otherwise you lose the
advantage of aptitude keeping track of which packages you have
deliberately installed.
aptitude in full screen mode accepts single-key commands which are
usually lowercase. Notable key strokes are:
Keystroke Action
F10 Menu
? Help for keystroke (complete listing)
u Update package archive information
+ Mark the package to be upgraded or newly installed
- Mark the package to be removed (keep config)
_ Mark the package to be purged (remove config)
= Place the package on hold
U Mark all upgradable packages to be upgraded
g Download and install selected packages
q Quit current screen and save changes
x Quit current screen and discard changes
Enter View information about a package
C View a package's changelog
l Change the limit for the displayed packages
/ Search for the first match
\ Repeat the last search
Like apt-get, aptitude installs packages upon which a
selected package Depends. aptitude also offers the option to pull
in packages that a to-be-installed package Recommends or Suggests. You can
change the default behavior by choosing F10 -> Options ->
Dependency handling in its menu.
Other advantages of aptitude are:
-
aptitude offers access to all versions of a package.
-
aptitude logs its actions in /var/log/aptitude.
-
aptitude makes it easy to keep track of obsolete software by
listing under "Obsolete and Locally Created Packages".
-
aptitude includes a fairly powerful system for searching
particular packages and limiting the package display. Users familiar with
mutt will pick up quickly, as mutt was the inspiration for the
expression syntax. See "SEARCHING, LIMITING, AND EXPRESSIONS" in
/usr/share/doc/aptitude/README.
-
aptitude in full screen mode has su functionality
embedded and can be run from normal user until you really need administrative
privileges.
