13 | 13 | The `dpkg` command and `.deb` files might not be familiar to many Debian and Ubuntu users -- instead, you may be used to installing packages via the `apt-get` or `aptitude` commands, or with the Synaptic graphical interface. The Advanced Packaging Tool (APT) is mostly commonly used to install packages from repositories. These repositories contain the actual `.deb` files, but you rarely interact with them directly. Instead you use a front-end tool like `apt-get` and request the name of the package, and the tool determines which repositories contain the package, what the current version is, which architecture to use, and download and install it for you. |