pacman is the fastest but the syntax is weird. Has the best visual, i.e. pacman loading bar. If things go wrong like a broken dependencies it doesnt provide heloful output.
Apt is the easiest to use but its output is very congested. Remember that Linus Tech Tips linux install video? The error warnings are very squashed together making it very difficult to see.
Dnf is the sweet spot imo. As default, the speed is slow but you can tweak it on the config. Outputs are clean, and if something goes wrong like a broken dependency, dnf provides very useful info to troubleshoot.
Pkgs Insert random shenanigans
It’s a mànage à trois
Honestly as I force myself more into learning fedora, I’m really liking dnf. The history and rollback feature is super nice.
The real OG is emerge.
The best software manager ever.
I didn’t know what was dnf so I made a search and found out it replaced yum as the redhat package manager in 2013. I did not know about yum either. Last time I used a redhat-based distribution, Mandrake, the package managers were rpm and urpmi. Tempus fugit!
me over here using the gui software manager because it works just fine and I can’t be assed to learn the difference between package managers.
Its most likely just a front-end for one of the command line tools anyway, so you’re probably still using them.
And if it’s the easiest way to get what you need, then it sounds like you’re using the right tool for your use case. That’s a good thing.
I am just going to mention yum so that I can get downvoted. (We use it at work.)
Accurate: APT vs DNF is the real kaiju fight… and then pacman -Syu shows up like the final boss…
No one fears pacman unless they have to use it.
What’s wrong with pacman? I love pacman!
I think you’re confused. It’s really easy to use. You have to learn 3–4 command line flags instead of subcommands, but that’s all that separates it from others in usage patterns.
What I really love about telling someone their favorite package updating tool is shit. Is someone trying to tell me I’m confused.
That or both wrong and an asshole. I was trying to be charitable.
Dnf install
Apt install
Pacman -S (which is short, for sInstall.)They S is for Sync. You’re syncing a package from the repos.
Everyone knows how to read, not everyone will feel comfortable reading the flags.
❌ apt update && apt upgrade
✅ pacman -Syu
I use it everyday and I still hate pacman’s flags with a passion
The best syntax is zypper’s zypper in se, etc.
The thing I don’t like about zypper is that it is missing functionality
the equivalent of
apt autoremovehas to be done through YaST
an equivalent forapt purgedoes not existYou can use these abbreviations with DNF too, by the way.
Wow, cool never knew when I used it.
I’m only 4 months into Linux, and apt is my comfort zone. Checking out other distros that use something else has me running away like:
YSK/PSA: If you’re on Mint, Mint’s
aptis not Debian’saptand while they work similarly for common use cases, they diverge pretty quickly beyond that. Both are installed by default but Mint’s takes precedence.*Case in point: I was looking for which package - specifically one that was not yet installed - contains a certain command line tool and Mint’s
apt searchdoes not find it. Debian’s does. **On the other hand, Mint’s
apthas way more subcommands than the default one, which have been useful on occasion.* Mint’s is at
/usr/local/bin/aptand Debian’s is at/usr/bin/apt; The default user$PATHputs/usr/local/binbefore/usr/bin.** FWIW, the tool is/was
spongeand it’s in themoreutilspackage.Just use aptitude and be happy.
Disclaimer: while aptitude was originally designed to replicate the apt CLI interface, I have never run the search command through it. The TUI is marvelous, though.
Nowadays apt supports deleting dangling config files with
apt purge "~c"so no need to have aptitude for that feature. However,aptitude why <package>is pretty handy, and if you bump into dependency problems aptitude is quite capable of suggesting valid solutions.Disclaimer: I’ve never used aptitude’s TUI.
I wonder why apt search on ubuntu and debian must be so bad: on mint each package has a single line and an easy letter telling you if the program is installed or not. On debian/ubuntu each program takes multiple lines, are all green and the only way to distinguish installed ones is to look for an (installed) string at the end of the first line. I like Mint’s apt version so much
dpkg -l | grep ^ii
(and then cry (this step is non-optional))I wonder how this is implemented in LMDE?
LMDE’s system is the same as regular Mint. I’ve been on LMDE for a few years but was on regular before that.
pacman is very fast and handy. The (in)famous
pacman -Syuhad you system completely up to date in record time.Sometimes I miss its speed and simplicity
And here’s me with my
yayzypper dupparu entered the chat (doesn’t even need -Syu).
I love paru, but I think my favorite thing about it is that it isn’t yay.
Back when i started using Arch Yay was mega popular so I tried it. Its great, I loved it, shouldn’t be a surprise I love paru too. But Yay was always my only Go app, so I’d end up installing Golag, which is gigantic, just to use yay.
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You can basically take that statement and replace “apt” with “whatever the first package tool I used” and it would be true for anyone.
tell me you have never run slackware witout telling me you have never run slackware.
I started with Ubuntu in the days of apt-get, and boy am I happy I got to use packman now and never add another custom repository ever again
My first package manager was YaST, then RPM, then APT. Apt rules, and while I’ve tried some more, I’m not afraid to say APT became my comfort zone.
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don’t let this type of bantering concern you
we are all just splitting hairs and knocking each other’s preferences when it is basically trivial. Like BMW and Mercedes drivers trying to one up who drives the superior German car
That’s easy Mercedes hasn’t made the superior car since the 80’s
I use eMacs by the way.
You seem to have misspelled vim.
sudo apt update && sudo apt full-upgrade -y
=
sudo dnf update -y
For most systems. If you can get apt you can get any of them.
The feds don’t want you to know this but you can just put “-U” at the end of
sudo apt upgradeand it updates before upgrading.what the fuck
I should really get around to RTFM.
If they are suppressing this, what else aren’t they telling us
vim has a built-in autocomplete you can use by pressing ctrl-n during interactive mode.
This gif makes me irrationally angry.
I almost used this godzilla gif to illustrate my point instead. Maybe you’ll enjoy it more.
See, now why did you have to ruin these last few days of peace for me like that?
At least it wasn’t Godzookie.
For me, pacman is my comfort zone. Fast, reliable and easy to handle. But apt was it for a long time as well.
Don’t panic, apt+flatpak does everything very well, if all you need is a working computer. If you need a hobby, try nix or guix
Exactly what I feel when I look or have to interact with anything that doesn’t have pacman 😅
I have to admit that I love the “pacman” pun quite a bit, which is nearly enough by itself to convince me to try it. One day. Maybe.
I can’t lie, that’s one of the reasons I moved over to CachyOS a few months back. It’s not the only reason, but it’s been my favourite distro for sure that I’ve tried. It’s the first one that really felt good to me.
It’s really a great distro, I’ve been using it fulltime on laptop and PC for over a year. Best one I’ve tried so far and for some reason it’s less buggy than EndeavourOS was for me. The only thing I don’t like about it is the name.
Thanks for the weekly reminder to update.
Nix
What about LFS with make
when the
sudo nixos-rebuild switch
After using dnf a bit:
- All the default answers are backwards to me, so
dnfquite literally ignores my input. dnf searchdid not show, by default, if a matching package is already installed.- Perfect perhaps for newbies, since dnf asks you trice.
yeah… arch is not leaving me anytime soon. The option to
makepkgfrom source a few custom packages is very neat.- All the default answers are backwards to me, so
