aptitude

Common terminal tools, ported from debian, ubuntu from sources. Install only from repository, may require additional dependencies.

aptitude is a front-end to the Advanced Packaging Tool (APT). It displays a list of software packages and allows the user to interactively pick packages to install or remove. It has an especially powerful search system utilizing flexible search patterns. It was initially created for Debian, but has appeared in RPM Package Manager (RPM) based distributions as well (such as Conectiva).

aptitude is based on the ncurses computer terminal library, with which it provides an interface that incorporates some elements commonly seen ingraphical user interfaces (GUIs) (such as pull-down menus).

In addition to the ncurses interface, aptitude provides an extensive command-line interface (CLI). Even though aptitude is one executable file, it provides command-line functions similar to those of apt- family of tools (apt-get, apt-cache, apt-listchanges, etc.). Aptitude also emulates mostapt-get command-line arguments, allowing it to act as a full replacement for apt-get. In the past, it was recommended that aptitude and apt-get not be used interchangeably. This is no longer true, as both programs now correctly track and share a common list of packages that were automatically installed to satisfy dependencies.[2]