Comparing the apt-get and aptitude package tools

The Ubuntu Software Center is only one of many package management tools used on Debian-based Linux systems. Although users have the choice of many worthy GUI alternatives, experienced users often prefer to work from the command line.

Apt-get and aptitude are a pair of command-line package management tools for the Debian environment. Although these tools might seem very similar, they use different approaches for managing software packages. Whereas apt-get executes the input commands exactly, aptitude has a memory and autocompletes them. Aptitude also provides a powerful interactive interface in text mode. Apt-get, however, is usually the faster of the two.

Behind the Scenes

The fundamental tools for software packaging on Debian-based system are dpkg and apt. Dpkg, the lowest level of package management for Debian, is responsible for unpacking DEB packages and handling updated configuration files. It also prevents one package from unexpectedly overwriting a file of another package.

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