They are way more elegant. dpkg is what it's all built off. If you get the .deb file you can use dpkg -i <package.deb> just like you would on an rpm based system.
apt is the obtaining of the packages from either a local source say your installation cd's or a remote source like ftp. apt is cutting out a step. in the simplest case with an rpm you might visit rpmfind.net for example, locate your package, download and then install. with apt it will find the package for you and then use dpkg to install it, so you don't need to bother with the searching and download part. Where apt really shines is when it's less simple and there are a number of dependencies for the package you want. In an RPM based system you may find them each individually, download, and install. With apt it figures it all out for you, grabs the packages it needs and installs them all to meet the dependencies. Dselect is just a graphical apt. It loads the list of packages available in the source you define, you select the ones you want and it then uses apt to get them and dpkg to install them, solving any dependicies along the way. The above is a very simplstic view they are loads of other neat things like apt-cache, graphical package managers (storm) etc etc. Brett :> -----Original Message----- :> From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] :> [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Behalf Of :> Stewart :> Sent: Thursday, 27 March 2003 1:45 PM :> To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] :> Subject: Re: [SLUG] apt-get weirdness lately :> :> :> :> On Thursday, March 27, 2003, at 09:23 AM, :> <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: :> :> > Having said that, Mandrake's "urpmi" is a big leap in the right :> > direction, but still lacks the simple elegance of :> apt-get/dpkg/dselect :> > in both operation and configuration. :> :> now i'm turning into a debhead, can someone 'please :> explain' exactly :> what the difference between apt-get/dpkg/dselect is and :> how they work :> together? to my mind three commands aint as 'simple :> elegance' as one :> rpm one. :-) :> :> but other than that i'm pretty impressed with how my woody is :> installing. :> :> ..S. :> :> -- :> SLUG - Sydney Linux User's Group - http://slug.org.au/ :> More Info: http://lists.slug.org.au/listinfo/slug :> -- SLUG - Sydney Linux User's Group - http://slug.org.au/ More Info: http://lists.slug.org.au/listinfo/slug
