Apt, apt-get, & aptitude differences

Thoughts & Feedback
#1

I’ve long wondered about the subject and how to use the different commands. My fingers almost always just type apt-get.

Recently I noticed a slight difference when using apt on Ubuntu version 14.04 LTS and UM 16.04 LTS; the command apt autoremove works in UM 16 but not in Ubuntu 14 [apt-get autoremove works].

I decided enough was enough and did some searching … bottom line for me is I will switch to apt vs apt-get and ignore aptitude.
I decided this after reading, from what I term the horse’s mouth…Debian Administrator’s Handbook

#2

i’ve been using apt recently, for two main reasons:

1 - i’m lazy - it’s easier to type than apt-get!

2 - the progress prompt seems a bit more informative, and has a pretty colour.

i don’t know about underlying technical differences…but it sure works for me. :slight_smile:

3 Likes
#3

I concur @mickey_megabyte, except I’m still typing apt-get out of habit.

I saw something mention this the other day - apparently both are basically the same but apt is more of a friendly front end (for users) and apt-get is more of a back end tool.

1 Like
#4

Well aptitude from what i heard did everything that apt does right now
for example
install, search, version view was like
apt-get install, apt-cache search, apt-cache policy
aptitude decided it should all be one command and did some fancy formatting plus showed if a package was already installed when you did a search.
apt does what aptitude was doing, its all in one place and nicely formatted

#5

See:

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/AptGet/Howto

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/PackageManagerTroubleshootingProcedure

http://linux.die.net/man/8/apt-get

#6

Code:
man apt

Shows the only change to be “full-upgrade” vs “dist-upgrade”, but I have accidentally used “apt dist-upgrade” and it worked.

I have found one outstanding use for aptitude and thats resolving package dependencies. When apt has failed, aptitude has worked.

1 Like
#7

This one does it for me:

sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get dist-upgrade -f

It normally solves any dependency problems!. :smiley: