apt

apt (Advanced Package Tool) is a package management software in Debian and other Linux distros based on it (Ubuntu, Mint).

Originally developed for Ubuntu, apt appeared after the mighty apt-get command as an attempt to simply workflows and to make managing packages easier. apt is not a complete replacement for apt-get functionality, but core functions are there.

Like so many things in Unix world, apt is more than one thing. Here are the meanings:

  • apt a pakage management system
  • apt is a tool (a Linux command)
  • apt is a collection of tools for package management (apt-*)

apt is an advanced tool capable of resolving dependencies (pulling additional software packages and installing them if your selected package requires them). It’s also using online APT repositories which allows for many commercial and independent developments to be provided and distributed in a very elegant way, without conflicting with default Debian/Ubuntu pakages.

Useful command line options for apt

These are some of the best options you can use with apt command: Most popular apt commands

As confirmed above, apt is also a collection of tools, most of them starting with word apt-. Here are some of them:

  • apt-get – download and install packages, or even upgrade your distro to the new release (which means complex update of majority of the packages)
  • apt-add-repository – command for adding software repositories into the /etc/apt/sources.list or /etc/apt/sources.list.d directory. Can both add and remove repos.
  • apt-key – manage list of APT keys. These keys allow you to make sure only trusted APT repositories are used for software installs.
  • apt-cache – low-level APT cache manager

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