Fun times are back for unstable users

[2007-04-11] Accepted 2.5-1 in unstable (low) (Clint Adams)

I'm going to upgrade Sarge to Etch this weekend but I have a question if I may.

The release notes recommend using aptitude for the dist-upgrade:
But I remember reading elsewhere on LQ that aptitude should NOT be used for this as it may hose the system and that apt-get is best. I would value the opinion of you guys who have already done the upgrade on which tool to use.

aptitude is the better program and the preferred package manager by Debian, but trying to get people to change something they're used to is like pulling teeth.

I would recommend that before switching from apt-get to aptitude, the first command executed should be # aptitude keep-all ...
Then use aptitude exclusively from that point on.

Also, and I think the release notes recommend this, just use it from the command line. You can use the same command line parameters as apt-get, for the most part.

I'm a long time Debian user, but, still a Debian n00b ( I use Debian on and off). Why is aptitude better than apt? Just curious.

More letters in the word "aptitude" than in the word "apt". More is better!
No!
Newer technology, better handle on dependencies.

The Release Notes touch on some of the issues.

Overall, I think Junior Hacker is right ... newer technology. Aptitude is the normal progression of development, and started from everything known about the strengths and weaknesses of apt-get. I only use it from the command line, and there is virtually no learning curve moving from apt-get to aptitude.

The biggest danger is skipping the all-important first step, introducing aptitude to all the programs you have installed previously. Otherwise under some conditions, it will decide they're all unused, and try to remove them. # aptitude keep-all ... handles that problem nicely.

I prefer aptitude because when I use it to install something, and it pulls down a load of dependencies as well, if I use it to remove that particular something, it will remove every (otherwise unused) dependency it automatically installed as well. I just wish I could do apt-get's build-dep option with aptitude.

Originally posted by rickh:
I can see the sense in that, but will aptitude keep-all prevent the aptitude dist-upgrade from removing obsolete packages? In particular, you wouldn't want to keep xfree86.

I've used aptitude a few times, but never realized it could remove unused dependancies. Thats one thing I've always wished apt-get and dselect would do. I think I am going to make the permanent switch to aptitude soon.

One question: What is this "build-dep" option you speak of?

Thanks for the explanation, tip, and link. I appreciate the reply, rickh.
I'm doing a clean install of Etch tonight after work. Fun!

A final tip about aptitude. The only portion of the User Manual I ever look at is The Command Line Reference.

Billy,

the tool apt-get build-dep is truly badass. It will do just what it says, build all of the dependencies for a program. For example, if I want to compile my own apache with non-standard things, I could do apt-get build-dep apache, and it will build all the dependencies but not install apache, so I have no obstructions to building apache as I want.

For home use it isn't such a big deal, but many times on servers it has saved me much time by build-dep'ing dependencies of things I want/need custom builds on.

Peace,
JimBass

This is very cool, if for some reason you want to recompile a debian package (I've never had a good reason to, besides curiosity). build-dep will automatically install all packages necessary to compile the package in question. Saves a lot of time that would be spent searching for the correct development packages (and compilers if necessary).

Not an official part of aptitude, but widely discussed:

http://p12n.org/hacks/aptitude-build-dep

Very cool indeed! There have been a few times this would have come in handy! lol