While dpkg performs actions on individual packages, APT manages relations (especially dependencies) between them, as well as sourcing and management of higher-level versioning decisions (release tracking and version pinning).ĪPT is often hailed as one of Debian's best features, which Debian developers attribute to the strict quality controls in Debian's policy.

APT can be considered a front-end to dpkg, friendlier than the older dselect front-end. The apt package is of ' important' priority in all current Debian releases, and is therefore included in a default Debian installation. They are commonly used in examples because they are simple and ubiquitous. Three such programs are apt, apt-get and apt-cache. A significant part of APT is defined in a C++ library of functions APT also includes command-line programs for dealing with packages, which use the library. Usage ĪPT is a collection of tools distributed in a package named apt. APT simplifies the process of managing software on Unix-like computer systems by automating the retrieval, configuration and installation of software packages, either from precompiled files or by compiling source code. Advanced package tool, or APT, is a free-software user interface that works with core libraries to handle the installation and removal of software on Debian, and Debian-based Linux distributions.

Debian package manager