Linux package management: apt-get, aptitude, synaptic, wajig

When you set up your Linux system, you typically grab an image, burn it to DVD, boot the machine off the DVD and follow the instructions. The image will contain the most recent (stable) version of the core Linux distro files and of the packages which are bundled with it. The package managers let you keep your packages up to date, add new packages, remove packages, etc. They also deal with the dependencies; when installing a package, all packages it relies on are automatically installed as well

The package managers do this by accessing repositories (repos) of packages. Your distro came configured with a set of repos which contain packages which work on your repo. If you want to install some software which is not in your standard repos you may need to add a repo to the list

At the basic level, the system uses apt and dpkg to manage the software. The following are some front-ends on top of apt and dpkg:

• apt-get: command line only
• aptitude: very similar to apt-get, plus a text-based “gui”
• synaptic: gui
• wajig: slightly friendlier front-end to both apt-get and aptitude. Brings together the power of both

For more information have a look at this article