Using apt-fast to accelerate installation of Debian packages

Performance

It is difficult to predict whether it pays to use apt-fast since I don't know the circumstances you are dealing with. I performed my tests with an optimized apt-fast.conf , a 120 Mbps connection, and installations of the LibreOffice package on a freshly installed system. During the course of downloading the package several times, download times were reduced by one fifth or even half. Downloads that take between 7 and 10 seconds without apt-fast usually require about 5 seconds when the utility is used on an identical system.

Conclusion

The speed of your available mirror and your download volumes will determine whether it makes senses to go through the effort of installing and configuring apt-fast.

You gain an additional advantage due to the installation of the download manager aria2. This is because it lets you increase the speed of all downloads, even when apt-fast is not involved. This tool only comes with command-line control [2]. However, webui-aria2 [3] also has a graphical interface for the browser.

A closer look at the apt-fast components did not reveal any negative side effects that occurred when it was installed as the Ubuntu package manager. The one piece of criticism I would like to offer is that the developer should move the quick installation to /usr/local/bin/ since the dpkg package manager is the only thing that actually belongs in /usr/bin/ . Otherwise, it would be fair to say that if apt-fast is helpful to you, there is nothing that says you shouldn't use it.