CHAPTER 29 INSTALLING SOFTWARE Querying Packages and (Web hosting rating)
CHAPTER 29 INSTALLING SOFTWARE Querying Packages and Repositories To search the repository databases for particular software packages, use the apt-cache command: apt-cache search packagename Both descriptions and package names are searched. You can also find out about dependencies using apt-cache: apt-cache depends packagename |less Once again, it s a good idea to pipe the output into less because the dependency list may run off the screen. You can read the program description for a package file by typing the following: apt-cache show packagename |less None of these commands makes a distinction between packages that are installed or otherwise you re accessing the details held in the repository databases. Before searching for packages, it s a good idea to make sure you have the latest package lists from the databases (the equivalent of clicking the Reload button in the Synaptic Package Manager). To refresh the lists, use this command: sudo apt-get update You should see output similar to that in Figure 29-7. Figure 29-7. Before searching for new packages, use the apt-get update command to ensure your package database is up-to-date.