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MY'STORY

The MOVE Fire

This is a personal recollection on the Move fire on May 13, 1985 Philadelphia police fired thousands of rounds at the MOVE house, city officials approved dropping an explosive device on the roof, the resulting fire was allowed to burn, 11 people—including five children—died, and 61 homes were destroyed. Philadelphia City Council later called it a “brutal attack carried out by the City of Philadelphia on its own citizens” and acknowledged that no individual faced criminal consequences for the bombing. One timeline correction worth preserving for the BHP record: the major previous MOVE-police confrontation was August 8, 1978, about seven years before the bombing, not a year or two earlier. Officer James Ramp was killed, other police and firefighters were wounded, nine MOVE members were later convicted, and television cameras recorded police beating Delbert Africa during his arrest. The 1985 MOVE Commission later specifically criticized city planners for failing to adequately use lessons from that 1978 confrontation. And that actually strengthens the point you’re making: 1985 did not happen without precedent or institutional memory. There had already been a deadly confrontation with MOVE, years of conflict, negotiations and police involvement before Osage Avenue.

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BLACK FACTS
The Truths They Never Taught You...

Wilmington 1898 — An American Coup

Wilmington, North Carolina once had a thriving Black middle class and an elected interracial government. In 1898 white supremacists used violence to overthrow that government, kill Black residents and drive many others from the city.

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Wikipedia

APT (software)

Advanced Package Tool
DeveloperThe Debian Project
Release31 March 1998; 28 years ago (1998-03-31)[1]
Stable release
3.3.2[2] Edit this on Wikidata / 30 July 2026; 2 months ago (30 July 2026)
Written inC++,[3] shell script,[3] XML,[3] CMake,[3] C,[3] Perl[3] Edit this on Wikidata
Operating systemUnix-like
TypePackage manager
LicenseGPLv2+
Websitewiki.debian.org/AptCLI
Repository

Advanced Package Tool (APT) is a free-software user interface that works with core libraries to handle the installation and removal of software on Debian and Debian-based Linux distributions.[4] APT simplifies the process of managing software on Unix-like computer systems by automating the retrieval, configuration and installation of software packages, either from precompiled files or by compiling source code.[4]

Usage

[edit]

APT is a collection of tools distributed in a package named apt. A significant part of APT is defined in a C++ library of functions; APT also includes command-line programs for dealing with packages, which use the library. Three such programs are apt, apt-get and apt-cache. They are commonly used in examples because they are simple and ubiquitous. The apt package is of "important" priority in all current Debian releases, and is therefore included in a default Debian installation. APT can be considered a front end to dpkg, friendlier than the older dselect front end. While dpkg performs actions on individual packages, APT manages relations (especially dependencies) between them, as well as sourcing and management of higher-level versioning decisions such as release tracking and Upgrade Suppression.

APT is often hailed as one of Debian's best features,[by whom?][5][6][7][8] which Debian developers attribute to the strict quality controls in Debian's policy.[9][10]

A major feature of APT is the way it calls dpkg –it performs topological sorting of the list of packages to be installed or removed and calls dpkg in the best possible sequence. In some cases, it utilizes the --force options of dpkg. However, it only does this when it is unable to calculate how to avoid the reason dpkg requires the action to be forced.

Installing software

[edit]

The user indicates one or more packages to be installed. Each package name is phrased as just the name portion of the package, not a fully qualified filename (for instance, in a Debian system, libc6 would be the argument provided, not libc6_1.9.6-2.deb). Notably, APT automatically gets and installs packages upon which the indicated package depends (if necessary). This was an original distinguishing characteristic of APT-based package management systems, as it avoided installation failure due to missing dependencies, a type of dependency hell.

Another distinction is the retrieval of packages from remote repositories. APT uses a location configuration file (/etc/apt/sources.list) to locate the desired packages, which might be available on the network or a removable storage medium, for example, and retrieve them, and also obtain information about available (but not installed) packages.

APT provides other command options to override decisions made by apt-get's conflict resolution system. One option is to force a particular version of a package. This can downgrade a package and render dependent software inoperable, so the user must be careful.

Finally, the apt_preferences mechanism allows the user to create an alternative installation policy for individual packages.

The user can specify packages using a POSIX regular expression.

APT searches its cached list of packages and lists the dependencies that must be installed or updated.

APT retrieves, configures and installs the dependencies automatically.

Triggers are the treatment of deferred actions.

Update, upgrade and dist-upgrade

[edit]

Usage modes of apt and apt-get that facilitate updating installed packages include:

  • update is used to resynchronize the package index files from their sources. The lists of available packages are fetched from the location(s) specified in /etc/apt/sources.list. For example, when using a Debian archive, this command retrieves and scans the Packages.gz files, so that information about new and updated packages is available.
  • upgrade is used to install the newest versions of all packages currently installed on the system from the sources enumerated in /etc/apt/sources.list. Packages currently installed with new versions available are retrieved and upgraded; under no circumstances are currently installed packages removed, or packages not already installed retrieved and installed. New versions of currently installed packages that cannot be upgraded without changing the install status of another package will be left at their current version.
  • full-upgrade (apt) and dist-upgrade (apt-get), in addition to performing the function of upgrade, also intelligently handles changing dependencies with new versions of packages; apt and apt-get have a "smart" conflict resolution system, and will attempt to upgrade the most important packages at the expense of less important ones if necessary. The /etc/apt/sources.list file contains a list of locations from which to retrieve desired package files.[4] aptitude has a smarter dist-upgrade feature called full-upgrade.[11]

Configuration and files

[edit]

/etc/apt contains the APT configuration folders and files.

apt-config is the APT Configuration Query program.[12] apt-config dump shows the configuration.[13][example needed]

Files

[edit]
  • /etc/apt/sources.list:[14] Locations to fetch packages from.
  • /etc/apt/sources.list.d/: Additional source list fragments.
  • /etc/apt/apt.conf: APT configuration file.
  • /etc/apt/apt.conf.d/: APT configuration file fragments.
  • /etc/apt/preferences.d/: Directory with version preferences files. This is where "pinning" is specified, i.e. a preference to get certain packages from a separate source or from a different version of a distribution.
  • /var/cache/apt/archives/: Storage area for retrieved package files.
  • /var/cache/apt/archives/partial/: Storage area for package files in transit.
  • /var/lib/apt/lists/: Storage area for state information for each package resource specified in sources.list
  • /var/lib/apt/lists/partial/: Storage area for state information in transit.

Sources

[edit]

APT relies on the concept of repositories in order to find software and resolve dependencies. For APT, a repository is a directory containing packages along with an index file. This can be specified as a networked or CD-ROM location. As of 14 August 2021, the Debian project keeps a central repository of over 50,000 software packages ready for download and installation.[15]

Any number of additional repositories can be added to APT's sources.list configuration file (/etc/apt/sources.list)[example needed] and then be queried by APT. Graphical front ends often allow modifying sources.list more simply (apt-setup). Once a package repository has been specified (like during the system installation), packages in that repository can be installed without specifying a source and will be kept up-to-date automatically.

In addition to network repositories, compact discs and other storage media (USB keydrive, hard disks...) can be used as well, using apt-cdrom[16] or adding file:/ URI[17] to the source list file. apt-cdrom can specify a folder other than a CD-ROM, using the -d option (i.e. a hard disk or a USB keydrive). The Debian CDs available for download contain Debian repositories. This allows non-networked machines to be upgraded. One can also use apt-zip.

Problems may appear when several sources offer the same package(s). Systems that have such possibly conflicting sources can use APT pinning to control which sources should be preferred.

APT pinning

[edit]

The APT pinning feature allows users to force APT to choose particular versions of packages which may be available in different versions from different repositories. This allows administrators to ensure that packages are not upgraded to versions which may conflict with other packages on the system, or that have not been sufficiently tested for unwelcome changes.

In order to do this, the pins in APT's preferences file (/etc/apt/preferences) must be modified,[18] although graphical front ends often make pinning simpler.

Front ends

[edit]
Synaptic Package Manager is one of the front ends available for APT.

Several other front ends to APT exist, which provide more advanced installation functions and more intuitive interfaces. These include:

  • Synaptic, a GTK graphical user interface
  • Ubuntu Software Center, a GTK graphical user interface developed by the Ubuntu project
  • aptitude, a console client with CLI and ncurses-based TUI interfaces
  • Adept package manager, a graphical user interface for KDE (deb, rpm, bsd)
  • PackageKit, a D-Bus frontend, maintained by freedesktop.org, powers GNOME Software and KDE Discover.
  • GDebi, a GTK-based tool sponsored for Ubuntu. (There is also a Qt version, available in the Ubuntu repositories as gdebi-kde.)
  • apt-cdrom, a way to add a new CDROM to APT's list of available repositories (sources.lists). It is necessary to use apt-cdrom to add CDs to the APT system, it cannot be done by hand.
  • apt-zip, a way to use apt with removable media, specifically USB flash drives.
  • aptURL, an Ubuntu software package that enables end-user applications to install with a single-click through a browser.[19][20]
  • Cydia, a package manager for jailbroken iOS based on APT (ported to iOS as part of the Telesphoreo project).[21][22]
  • Sileo, like Cydia, a package manager for jailbroken iOS based on newer versions of APT (ported to iOS by the Electra team)
  • gnome-apt, a GTK/GNOME-widget-based graphical front end. Developed by Havoc Pennington[23]
  • Muon discover (previous Muon software center), a Qt-based graphical user interface
  • Hildon application manager (Maemo application), a Maemo front end
  • apticron, a service designed to be run via cron to email notices of pending updates to a system administrator (sysadmin).
  • APT Daemon, a front end that runs as a service to allow users to install software through PolicyKit and is in turn the framework used by Ubuntu software center (along with the Linux Mint software manager).
  • Package installer, part of MX Linux.
  • APTus, a collection of scripts and a graphical front-end, part of SparkyLinux.
  • Apt-offline: A convenient way to make any available non-containerized change to any Debian-type Linux installation without using a direct Internet connection. However, a temporary direct connection can be required, such as to install Apt-offline on some of the relevant types of Linux, and to add PPA's to the sources-list.

APT front ends can:

  • search for new packages;
  • upgrade packages;
  • install or remove packages and
  • upgrade the whole system to a new release.

APT front ends can list the dependencies of packages being installed or upgraded, ask the administrator if packages recommended or suggested by newly installed packages should be installed too, automatically install dependencies and perform other operations on the system such as removing obsolete files and packages.

History

[edit]

The original effort that led to the apt-get program was the dselect replacement project known by its codename Deity.[24] This project was commissioned in 1997 by Brian White, the Debian release manager at the time. The first functional version of apt-get was called dpkg-get and was only intended to be a test program for the core library functions that would underpin the new user interface (UI).[25]

Much of the original development of APT was done on Internet relay chat (IRC), so records have been lost. The 'Deity creation team' mailing list archives include only the major highlights.

The 'Deity' name was abandoned as the official name for the project due to concerns over the religious nature of the name. The APT name was eventually decided after considerable internal and public discussion. Ultimately the name was proposed on IRC, accepted and then finalized on the mailing lists.[26]

APT was introduced in 1998 and original test builds were circulated on IRC. The first Debian version that included it was Debian 2.1, released on 9 March 1999.[27]

In the end the original goal of the Deity project of replacing the dselect user interface was a failure. Work on the user interface portion of the project was abandoned (the user interface directories were removed from the concurrent versions system) after the first public release of apt-get. The response to APT as a dselect method and a command line utility was so great and positive that all development efforts focused on maintaining and improving the tool. It was not until much later that several independent people built user interfaces on top of libapt-pkg.

Eventually, a new team picked up the project, began to build new features and released version 0.6 of APT which introduced the Secure APT feature, using strong cryptographic signing to authenticate the package repositories.[28]

Variants

[edit]

APT was originally designed as a front end for dpkg to work with Debian's .deb packages. A version of APT modified to also work with the RPM Package Manager system was released as APT-RPM.[29] The Fink project has ported APT to Mac OS X for some of its own package management tasks,[30] and APT is also available in OpenSolaris.

apt-file

[edit]

apt-file is a command, packaged separately from APT, to find which package includes a specific file, or to list all files included in a package on remote repositories.[31]

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Initial release". apt package changelog. The Debian project. 31 March 1998. Retrieved 18 December 2021.
  2. ^ "3.3.2". 30 July 2026. Retrieved 31 July 2026.
  3. ^ a b c d e f "The apt - Advanced Package Tool Open Source Project on Open Hub: Languages Page". Open Hub. Retrieved 2 May 2024.
  4. ^ a b c "apt-get(8)". Debian Manpages. Retrieved 18 December 2021.
  5. ^ Byfield, Bruce (9 December 2004). "An apt-get primer". Retrieved 18 December 2021.
  6. ^ "From the archives: the best distros of 2000". Tux radar. Archived from the original on 26 July 2020.
  7. ^ Dorgan, David (19 January 2004). "Migrating to Debian". linux.ie. Archived from the original on 13 May 2006.
  8. ^ "Mobile Linux development with Familiar and a minimal Debian". Mobile Tux. Archived from the original on 15 September 2008.
  9. ^ "Why Debian". Retrieved 18 December 2021.
  10. ^ "Debian policy manual". Retrieved 18 December 2021.
  11. ^ "Discussion on dist-upgrade vs. full-upgrade". Retrieved 18 December 2021.
  12. ^ "apt-config(8)". Debian Manpages. Retrieved 18 December 2021.
  13. ^ "Query APT configuration using apt-config - Debian admin". 2 December 2006. Retrieved 18 December 2021.
  14. ^ "SourcesList". Debian Wiki. Retrieved 18 December 2021.
  15. ^ "Debian 11 "bullseye" released". www.debian.org. Archived from the original on 2021-08-14. Retrieved 2022-05-11.
  16. ^ "apt-cdrom(8)". Debian Manpages. Retrieved 27 December 2021.
  17. ^ e.g. deb file:/mnt/install stable main contrib non-free.
  18. ^ "AptConfiguration". Debian Wiki. Retrieved 2020-05-18.
  19. ^ "AptURL". Ubuntu Wiki. Retrieved 27 December 2021.
  20. ^ "How to install software in Ubuntu Linux: A complete guide for newbie". 17 June 2018. Retrieved 27 December 2021.
  21. ^ Jurick, David (2009). iPhone hacks: Pushing the iPhone and iPod touch beyond their limits. O'Reilly Media, Inc. p. 20. ISBN 9780596516642. Retrieved 27 December 2021.
  22. ^ Adhikari, Richard (20 March 2008). "Android, Schmandroid: Linux on the iPhone". LinuxInsider. Retrieved 27 December 2021.
  23. ^ Mullikin, Glenn (December 2001). "The evolution of Debian package management systems". AUUGN. Vol. 22, no. 4. p. 50. ISSN 1035-7521. gnome-apt was written by Havoc Pennington
  24. ^ White, Brian C. (11 April 1997). ""dselect" replacement project ("deity")". deity@lists.debian.org (Mailing list).
  25. ^ Gunthorpe, Jason (2 March 1998). "It's working". deity@lists.debian.org (Mailing list).
  26. ^ Gunthorpe, Jason (19 March 1998). "Re: 2 things (!)". deity@lists.debian.org (Mailing list).
  27. ^ "A brief history of Debian". debian.org. Archived from the original on 24 August 2003.
  28. ^ "Secure APT". Debian Wiki. Retrieved 27 December 2021.
  29. ^ "APT-RPM". apt-rpm.org. Archived from the original on 21 April 2008. Retrieved 27 December 2021.
  30. ^ "Fink - About". www.finkproject.org. Archived from the original on 11 May 2008. Retrieved 27 December 2021.
  31. ^ "Inspecting and extracting Debian package contents". Packagecloud blog. 13 October 2015. Retrieved 27 December 2021.
[edit]

Source: Wikipedia. Article content is retrieved live through the MediaWiki API.

Wikipedia

APT (software)

Advanced Package Tool (APT) is a free-software user interface that works with core libraries to handle the installation and removal of software on Debian and Debian-based Linux distributions. APT simplifies the process of managing software on Unix-like computer systems by automating the retrieval, configuration and installation of software packages, either from precompiled files or by compiling source code.

MORE →
Wikipedia

Yum (software)

The Yellowdog Updater Modified (YUM) is a free and open-source command-line package-management utility for computers running the Linux operating system using the RPM Package Manager. Though YUM has a command-line interface, several other tools provide graphical user interfaces to YUM functionality. YUM allows for automatic updates and package and dependency management on RPM-based distributions. Like the Advanced Package Tool (APT) from Debian, YUM works with software repositories (collections of packages), which can be accessed locally or over a network connection. Under the hood, YUM depends on RPM, which is a packaging standard for digital distribution of software, which automatically uses hashes and digital signatures to verify the authorship and integrity of said software; unlike some app stores, which serve a similar function, neither YUM nor RPM provide built-in support for proprietary restrictions on copying of packages by end-users. YUM is implemented as libraries in the Python programming language, with a small set of programs that provide a command-line interface. GUI-based wrappers such as YUM Extender (yumex) also exist, and has been adopted for Fedora Linux until version 22. A rewrite of YUM named DNF replaced YUM as the default package manager in Fedora 22 (in 2015). This was required due to Fedora's transition from Python 2 to Python 3, which is not supported by YUM. DNF also improves on YUM in several ways - improved performance, better resolution of dependency conflicts, and easier integration with other software applications. From RHEL 8, yum is an alias for DNF.

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Wikipedia

Synaptic (software)

Synaptic is a GTK-based graphical user interface designed for the APT package manager used by the Debian Linux distribution and its derivatives. Synaptic is usually used on systems based on deb packages but can also be used on systems based on RPM packages. It can be used to install, remove and upgrade software packages and to add repositories.

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Wikipedia

Aptitude (software)

aptitude is a front end to APT, the Debian package manager. It displays a list of software packages and allows the user to interactively pick packages to install or remove. It has a search system utilizing flexible search patterns. It was initially created for Debian, but has appeared in RPM-based distributions as well.

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TOPIC OF THE DAY

Greenwood / Black Wall Street

Before the 1921 destruction of Tulsa’s Greenwood District, Black residents had created a remarkable center of business and community life. The district included stores, professional offices, entertainment venues and homes owned by Black citizens. Understanding Greenwood means learning what was built—not only what was burned.

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TRIVIA QUESTION OF THE DAY

Which Supreme Court case ruled state-sponsored public-school segregation unconstitutional?

Brown v. Board of Education in 1954.