Package managers are an essential a part of working with fashionable Linux distributions. In the early days of Linux, life was extra sophisticated. If you needed to put in a chunk of software program, you needed to obtain a file (or recordsdata) after which configure the software program to run in your explicit system. This did not make it very straightforward to put in software program.
Therefore, packages and package deal managers have been invented to fight the complexity concerned with putting in software program on Linux and Unix methods. Software packages are comprised of a number of knowledge recordsdata mixed right into a single archive, which makes for simple portability and storage, and package deal managers help you obtain and set up software program simply.
History of package deal managers
Package managers have evolved through the years. In 1994, Ian Murdock launched dpkg as a shell script. Apt (Advanced Packaging Tool) was launched in 1998. Its typical syntax is apt-get and apt-cache. While apt-get resolves dependencies for putting in software program on Debian-based methods, dpkg will set up software program that doesn’t require dependency decision. And RPM (Red Hat Package Manager) was launched in 1997 by Erik Troan and Marc Ewing.
Some flavors of Linux have created their very own package deal codecs, however the most typical codecs are .deb and .rpm, and these .deb and .rpm recordsdata are put in utilizing package deal managers. Red Hat, Fedora, SUSE, and a few smaller distributions use .rpm, whereas Debian, Ubuntu, Linux Mint, Pop_OS, and Raspbian use .deb recordsdata.
In the early days of Linux, customers needed to memorize the instructions to invoke a package deal supervisor from the command line. Some examples:
$ rpm -ivh pidgin-2.7.9-5.el6.2.i686.rpm
$dpkg -i apt-ntop.deb
$sudo apt set up audacity
That’s modified, and now most distributions have software program facilities, the place a graphical consumer interface helps customers discover and set up software program with out having to make use of the command line.
What is your favourite package deal supervisor?
Of the next 10 present and legacy package deal managers, which one is your favourite? Have we left your favourite out? Let us know within the feedback.
