Ubuntu Software Repository

Software Repositories

 

As mentioned previously, dgkg and APT take care of package management within Ubuntu. These tools are taken from teh Debian distribution of Linux, on which Ubuntu is babsed.

Debian Package or dpkg, is the most basic part of the system. It's used to install and uninstall software, and it can also be used to query any individual software packages. It's like the manager in a warehouse who is tasked with knowing exactly what boxes have been stored where.

 

dpkg is aware of dependency issues and will refuse to fully install a package if the others it needs aren't already installed or supplied at the same time. But it doesn't have the means to fix the situation automatically. This is akin to the warehouse manager's inability to order more boxes if he needs them. That's not his job. He'll just tell you if bobxes delivered to him are missing some of their components.

 

Because of this ,there's an additional layer of software that sits on top of dpkg called the Advanced Packaging Tool, or APT. APT is very sophisticated. Its job is to handle dependency management. Try to install some software using APT, and any dependency issues will be worked out for you.

 

APT canl do this because it's designed to work with software repositories. Users can search and install packages from these callections of software. More often thatn not, these software repositories are online, but that's not always the case. The DVD supplied with this book contains the base installation software repository, for example.

It's import to not that APT relies on the dpkg system to take care of the actual installatioin. Effectively ,dpkg and APT are two sides of the same coin.

 

 

Categories of Repositories

 

Regardless of whether they're online or on a CD/DVD, Ubuntu repositories are strictly categorized according to the type of software they contain:

1.Main Distribution.

2.Security Updates

3.Recommended Updates:

4.Proposed Updates:

5.Unsupported(Backport) Updates

 

Categories of Repositories

 

Regardless of whether they're online or on a CD/DVD, Ubuntu repositories are strictly categorized according to the type of software they contain:

1.Main Distribution.

2.Security Updates

3.Recommended Updates:

4.Proposed Updates:

5.Unsupported(Backport) Updates

 

 

e.g.:

sdo apt-get udpate

sudo apt-get install links

sudo apt-get autoremove evolution

 

Installing Packages:

sudo dpkg -i packagename.i386.deb

 

sudo apt-get build-essential