The binary is called apt-get. There are others like apt-cache etc.
Apt is a script that just figures out which binary to use and passes the arguments on.
- apt update -> apt-get update
- apt policy -> apt-cache policy
You know, I thought I knew why, but this was new information to me, so I guess I didn’t.
Thanks for sharing this concise explico!
These days,
apt
is for humans whereasapt-get
is for scripts.apt
’s output is designed for humans and may change between releases, whereasapt-get
is guaranteed to remain consistent to avoid breaking scripts.apt
combines several commands together. For example, you can use it to install packages from both repos and local files (e.g.apt install ./foo.deb
) whereasapt-get
is only for packages from repos and you’d need to usedpkg
for local packages.Huh TIL.
I never considered trying to install a package from a local file through apt, but always dpkg. End result is the same of course. The web suggests dpkg rather than apt as well ( or at least the pages I ended up on ).