Practical Package Administration under Debian

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Package Dependencies

You can determine how the software packages are coupled by using debtree and apt-rdepends , each of which comes from a package of the same name. Both tools first create a file in DOT format [10] for descriptions of the nodes [11]. The program Dotty from the graphviz package then converts the data into a graphical representation (Figure 3). The calls in Listing 15 illustrate the process using apt-rdepends on the tcpdump package.

Figure 3: Dotty shows the dependencies found for the tcpdump package using the apt-rdepends tool.

Listing 15

apt-rdepends plus dot

$ apt-rdepends -d tcpdump | dot > dump.dot
$ dotty tcpdump.dot

Conclusion

The existing package systems offer a very robust basis for managing software. Consequently these systems are reliable on the server and the desktop. For a better understanding, it is a good idea to take some time to examine this topic. Getting organized always involves a choice between simplicity and stability. Users responsible for system maintenance usually make stability a priority. A computer that works reliably makes for a happy user.

Infos

  1. Snappy: http://snapcraft.io/
  2. "Universal 'snap' packages launch": https://insights.ubuntu.com/2016/06/14/universal-snap-packages-launch-on-multiple-linux-distros/
  3. "Snap Packages vs. Flatpaks": https://www.maketecheasier.com/snap-packages-vs-flatpacks/
  4. Click: http://click.readthedocs.io/
  5. "Dynamic Duo" by Axel Beckert, Frank Hofmann, Ubuntu User , issue 18, Fall 2013, http://www.ubuntu-user.com/Magazine/Archive/2013/18/Comparing-the-apt-get-and-aptitude-package-tools
  6. "Speedy Delivery" by Mario Blattermann, Ubuntu User , issue 27, Winter 2015, https://www.ubuntu-user.com/Magazine/Archive/2015/27/The-new-look-for-Muon-package-administration
  7. "All the Extras" by Frank Hofmann, Linux Magazine , issue 155, October 2013, http://www.linux-magazine.com/Issues/2013/155/SmartPM/
  8. Search through package contents: https://www.debian.org/distrib/packages#search_contents
  9. APT Browse: http://www.apt-browse.org
  10. "Connections" by Frank Hofmann, Ubuntu User , issue 22, Fall 2014, http://www.ubuntu-user.com/Magazine/Archive/2014/22/Visualizing-complex-structures-using-Graphviz
  11. "Arrangements" by Michael Niedermair, Ubuntu User , issue 20, Spring 2014, http://www.ubuntu-user.com/Magazine/Archive/2014/20/Graphviz-calculates-flexible-graphs
  12. "Sweet Wrappers" by Ferdinand Thommes, Ubuntu User , issue 30, Fall 2016, http://www.ubuntu-user.com/Magazine/Archive/2016/30/The-package-formats-Flatpaks-and-Snaps
  13. Flatpak: http://flatpak.org
  14. Docker: https://www.docker.com
  15. OCF: https://www.opencontainers.org
  16. ACI: https://github.com/appc
  17. rkt: https://github.com/coreos/rkt
  18. Flatpak, Snap, and AppImage: https://distrowatch.com/weekly.php?issue=20160704#opinion
  19. "How to Install and Manage Snap Packages on Ubuntu 16.04 LTS": http://www.howtogeek.com/252047/how-to-install-and-manage-snap-packages-on-ubuntu-16.04-lts/

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