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LPI Linux Certification in a Nutshell, 2nd Edition
book

LPI Linux Certification in a Nutshell, 2nd Edition

by Steven Pritchard, Bruno Gomes Pessanha, Nicolai Langfeldt, James Stanger, Jeff Dean
July 2006
Intermediate to advanced
992 pages
30h 57m
English
O'Reilly Media, Inc.
Content preview from LPI Linux Certification in a Nutshell, 2nd Edition

Objective 5: Use Debian Package Management

The Debian package management system is a versatile and automated suite of tools used to acquire and manage software packages for Debian Linux. The system automatically handles many of the management details associated with interdependent software running on your system.

Debian Package Management Overview

Each Debian package contains program and configuration files, documentation, and noted dependencies on other packages. The names of Debian packages have three common elements, including:

Package name

A Debian package name is short and descriptive. When multiple words are used in the name, they are separated by hyphens. Typical names include binutils, kernel-source, and telnet.

Version number

Each package has a version. Most package versions are the same as that of the software they contain. The format of package versions varies from package to package, but most are numeric (major.minor.patchlevel).

A file extension

By default, all Debian packages end with .deb file extension.

Figure 4-1 illustrates a Debian package name.

The structure of a Debian GNU/Linux package name

Figure 4-1. The structure of a Debian GNU/Linux package name

Managing Debian Packages

The original Debian package management tool is dpkg, which operates directly on .deb package files and can be used to automate the installation and maintenance of software packages. The alternative apt-get tool operates using package names, ...

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Publisher Resources

ISBN: 0596005288