Running Linux, 5th Edition - Matthias Kalle Dalheimer [224]
Get:2 http://security.debian.org stable/updates/main ssh 1:3.1.6p4-1 [600kB]
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(Reading database ... 159546 files and directories currently installed.)
Preparing to replace ssh 1:3.0.3p2-6 (using .../ssh_1%3a3.1.6p4-1_i386.deb) ...
Unpacking replacement ssh ...
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One thing you will notice is that unlike most Linux commands, the actions taken by apt commands are specified without dashes. apt-get does allow some options, but they are used only to change the behavior of the main action specified.[†]
Note that gnumeric was not automatically upgraded, probably because it would have required additional packages to be installed. To upgrade it and resolve dependencies, we can use apt-get's install option, with the names of one or more packages: [*]
tigger # apt-get installgnumeric
The following extra packages will be installed:
libgal36 libglade3
The following NEW packages will be installed:
libgal36
2 packages upgraded, 1 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
Need to get 8.3MB of archives. After unpacking 503kB will be used.
Do you want to continue? [Y/n] y
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Another useful feature of apt is its ability to find information about packages in the repository. The apt-cache command is used to look up information about packages that are available for installation. One common use of apt-cache is to find packages based on keywords in the package's description, by using words, complete phrases (in quotes), or regular expressions. For example, if you want to find a package that allows you to play Ogg Vorbis-encoded music files, you can use the search option to find appropriate packages:
tigger $ apt-cache search"ogg vorbis"
audacity - A fast, cross-platform audio editor
bitcollider-plugins - bitcollider plugins
cplay - A front-end for various audio players
gqmpeg - a GTK+ front end to mpg321/mpg123 and ogg123
libapache-mod-mp3 - turns Apache into a streaming audio server
libvorbis0 - The Vorbis General Audio Compression Codec
mp3blaster - Full-screen console mp3 and ogg vorbis player
mp3burn - burn audio CDs directly from MP3s or Ogg Vorbis files
oggtst - Read comments in ogg vorbis files
python-pyvorbis - A Python interface to the Ogg Vorbis library
vorbis-tools - Several Ogg Vorbis Tools
xmms - Versatile X audio player that looks like Winamp
xmms-dev - XMMS development static library and header files
mq3 - a mp3/ogg audio player written in Qt.
Now, if we are interested in one of these packages, we can find out more about it using the show option of apt-cache:
tigger $ apt-cache showxmms
Package: xmms
Priority: optional
Section: sound
Installed-Size: 4035
Maintainer: Josip Rodin ... Description: Versatile X audio player that looks like Winamp XMMS (formerly known as X11Amp) is an X/GTK+ based audio player for various audio formats. . It's able to read and play: * Audio MPEG layer 1, 2, and 3 (with mpg123 plug-in), * WAV, RAW, AU (with internal wav plug-in and MikMod plug-in), * MOD, XM, S3M, and other module formats (with MikMod plug-in), * CD Audio (with CDAudio plug-in), with CDDB support, * .cin files, id Software, * Ogg Vorbis files. It has eSound, OSS, and disk writer support for outputting sound. . It looks almost the same as famous Winamp, and includes those neat features like general purpose, visualization and effect plug-ins, several of which come bundled, then spectrum analyzer, oscilloscope, skins support, and of course, a playlist window. Although a full exploration of apt's features is beyond the scope of this chapter, the apt manual page (and the manual pages it references) along with the APT HOWTO (available in the apt-howto-en package) should answer any questions you may have. In addition to the command-line tools, a number of easy-to-use text-based and graphical frontends have been developed. One of the most mature frontends is KPackage , which is part of the KDE Desktop Environment, but can be used with other desktops, such as GNOME. KPackage can be run from the command line or found in the System