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Package

On Linux, software is typically built as a package, distributed via repositories, and managed by package managers on the user's system. A typical Linux system includes thousands of packages, many of which serve as dependencies for other software.

1. Package

  • Software in linux usually distributed as packages, which are archives containing pre-compiled binaries, installation scripts, configuration files, and dependency information.
  • Typically packaged into .deb (Debian/Ubuntu), .rpm (CentOS/RHEL), or other formats, depending on the Linux distribution.

2. Repositories

  • Repositories are simply the location where the packages are stored, commonly accessible via the internet. A repository can contain a single package or thousands of packages.

3. Dependencies

  • In Linux, each package contains metadata detailing the additional packages that are required. These additional packages are called dependencies.
  • installing, upgrading, or removing packages, these dependencies may also need to installed, upgraded, and optionally removed.

Package Managers​

  1. APT (Advanced Package Tool) → Debian-based distros (Ubuntu, Debian)
  2. DNF/YUM (Dandified YUM) → Fedora, RHEL, CentOS
  3. Pacman → Arch Linux, Manjaro
  4. Zypper → openSUSE

APT​

Update & Upgrades Packages​

sudo apt update       # Refreshes package lists from repositories           
sudo apt upgrade      # Safe upgrade (without remove or add dependencies)
sudo apt full-upgrade # Complete upgrade (auto remove or add dependencies)

Download package​

sudo apt download <package-name>  # Download package as a .deb file

List and Show Packages​

# List installed package
dpkg --list | less
sudo apt list --installed

# Show package details
sudo apt show <package-name>

Hold and Unhold Package​

sudo apt-mark hold <package-name>   # Prevent package from being upgraded
sudo apt-mark unhold <package-name> # Allow package to be upgraded

Remove Package​

sudo apt remove <package-name> # Remove packages
sudo apt autoremove            # Remove unused dependencies

Search Packages​

sudo apt search <package>  # Search available packages

Repositories​

cat /etc/apt/sources.list       # Check available repo
sudo nano /etc/apt/sources.list # Edit to add or remove repo
echo "deb http://deb.debian.org/debian bookworm-backports main" | sudo tee -a /etc/apt/sources.list   # Example of add new repo

# Then Update
sudo apt update

Dependencies​

sudo apt-cache depends <package-name>  # Show dependencies of a package
sudo apt-cache rdepends <package-name> # Show reverse dependencies