Could someone outline for me the procedure for installing both apt-get and aptitude? Seems one has to be installed before the other. Is the apt in apt-get and abbreviation of aptitude? Don't understand why these two package managers have such similar names. Very confusing. Once they're installed, what is the command line to install and remove packages? Apparently, aptitude is better because it removes any dependencies if they're not be used by other programs. Thanks.

Hi Jacatone, first what you must know is that Aptitude is just the graphical client for apt-get. Aptitude has a shmick graphical interface, but underneath all its doing is using apt-get on the command line! ;-)
Second of all, aptitude, as far as I know can only be used with Debian and Ubuntu, and they both come pre-installed with aptitude, so there should be no need to install it.

So if you are using Debian or Ubuntu, you should do this to install a package using aptitude, and yes it will also install all dependencies.

su
<enter root password and hit enter>
apt-get install <name of package>

To search for a package you must do this -->

su
<enter root password and hit enter>
apt-cache search <search string>

NOTE: in ubuntu, instead of using su, you can just use sudo and then the command for example...

sudo apt-get install <name of package>

voila, hope that helps you...

Luke

I'm using Mepis 6.5.02 which uses KDE 3.5 and debian. I had to first install apt-get, then use it to install aptitude. Apparently, they are two distinct konsole based programs. Aptitude will remove dependencies with an uninstall, while apt-get and Synaptic won't. I seem to get different answers everytime I ask the question.

Wow I wasnt aware of that I thought they were the same thing and I've been using apt-get for years!
You learn something new every day. =)
apt-get actually does remove un-needed dependencies though you just have to go
:-)
Ill keep an eye on this thread ill be interested to see what others have to say.
I did a bit of digging on google and they do seem to be two seperate programs.
Luke

I didnt think you had to be root to search for packages. On my standard debian install it lets you search but not install as a normal user.

The Apt/Aptitude debate is one of the most vigorous, and sometimes caustic, discussions in the Debian world.

http://forums.debian.net/viewtopic.php?t=16139

You want my opinion? Aptitude is the hands-down winner, but you still need various components of Apt.

I don't know how it works in the derivatives, or in other distros that have ported Apt, but in Debian, Apt/Aptitude is far more than a means of getting packages. Second to the kernel, it's the most critical element of the OS. There are dozens of Apt related commands apart from "apt-get".