The concept behind apt-get is simple. Repositories are websites that provides access to a bunch of software. Each software is called a package and has a distinct name. To be able to download and install a software(package) you need to know of at least one repo(repository) that provides that software. For this purpose you need to add repositories to your local apt-get sources list. Once you have the repos set up installing software is a piece of cake. Not only can you install software with a single command line but also ensure that it's well set up. apt-get figures out the dependencies of the software and installs them automatically. It manages all the various dependencies of all the software on your machine, letting you concentrate on what you really want which is using the software. Sounds neat doesn't it, its almost too good to be true. Let's see the commands that the above workflow boils down to.
I've borrowed as it is from the following webpage:
http://www.aboutlinux.info/2005/12/concise-apt-get-dpkg-primer-for-new.html
Repo addresses are stored in list at /etc/apt/sources.list. This is where apt-get looks for repos to find the software you ask it for. Entries look like this:
deb [web address] [distribution name][maincontribnon-free]
example:
deb http://in.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu breezy main restrcted
If you add a repo make you call the following command to update the local apt database with all the available software on the new repo:
apt-get update
To search for a software in local database:
apt-cache search baseutils
Now, to the most important command. Here is how you install stuff:
apt-get install baseutils
Sometimes you may need to install deb packages directly for those times:
dpkg -i gedit-2.12.1.deb
Another useful command is one to list packages on the machine
dpkg -l gcc*
It's also very useful to know what files actually got installed for a particular package, for that:
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