Generally, Linux users know that there are a lot of different package management tools that can be used to install, update and remove packages from your computer. Three of the most popular tools are apt, apt-get, and aptitude. In tutorials for Ubuntu and Debian. You might have already seen various installation commands using these different tools. In this article, we will discuss the differences between these three tools and what capabilities and options can a user expect using each of them.

What is “apt”?

apt is a high-level package management tool that is used to manage packages on Debian-based systems such as Ubuntu. It is short for Advanced Packaging Tool. It was introduced in Ubuntu 16.04 as a replacement for apt-get and apt-cache. apt is designed to be easier to use than apt-get and aptitude, and it provides a number of additional features such as the ability to install packages from a specific repository and the ability to downgrade packages. It was initially designed to only work with .deb packages but has since been updated to work with the RPM packages and their Package Manager as well.

What is “apt-get”?

apt-get is a lower-level package management tool that is used to manage packages on Debian-based systems. It is a command-line tool that is used to install, update, and remove packages, as well as to perform other package management tasks such as upgrading the entire system. apt-get is a powerful tool, but it can be more difficult to use than apt due to its many options and commands.

What is “aptitude”?

aptitude is another advanced package management tool that is used on Debian-based systems. It is a text-based front-end to the apt package manager, and it provides a number of additional features such as the ability to perform complex package management tasks. If it is not installed by default, you can install it using:

$sudo apt install aptitude

 You can remove packages and their dependencies, resolve conflicts between packages, and more. aptitude is generally considered to be more powerful, versatile, and flexible than apt and apt-get, but it can also be more complex to use.

Conclusion

In summary, apt, apt-get, and aptitude are all package management tools that are used on Debian-based systems such as Ubuntu and Debian. apt is a high-level tool that is designed to be easy to use and provides additional features such as the ability to install packages from specific repositories. apt-get is a lower-level tool that is more powerful but can be more difficult to use due to its many options and commands. aptitude is a text-based front-end to apt that provides additional features such as the ability to perform complex package management tasks, but it can also be more complex to use. In the end, you cannot say if one is better than the other. Each of them comes in handy in different scenarios. All of them are capable of efficient package management. If you want to discuss any of these further, feel free to drop us a line and we’ll gladly jump into the discussion.