In new versions of Ubuntu and Kubuntu, and probably in upcoming Debian releases as well, the legacy aptitude system is no longer installed by default. You can, of course, bring it back via apt-get — and the aptitude command will be available again — but it's better to learn how to use the modern apt.
Here I'll show you how to search for packages and display information about them using apt.
Searching for packagesVia apt:
# apt-cache search myPacket
# apt-cache search "package name"
where instead of myPacket and package name, specify the name or part of the name of the package (program) you need.
Via aptitude (deprecated):
# aptitude search myPacket
# aptitude search "package name"
Displaying informationVia apt:
# apt-cache show myPacket
# apt-cache show -v myPacket
if you use the -v flag, additional data will be shown, including all versions available for installation.
Via aptitude (deprecated):
# aptitude show myPacket
# aptitude show -v myPacket
As you can see, the search and show syntax from aptitude simply carried over to apt-cache.
Installing and removing packages is done as usual — via apt-get install and apt-get purge.
Comments