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Full documentation for APT? (lemmy.ml)

submitted 5 months ago by Ephera@lemmy.ml to c/linux4noobs@lemmy.world

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Hi, I just read online that you can apparently run apt --fix-broken install.

I wanted to know, what that really does, but both apt --help and man apt only show a high-level summary of the subcommands and flags. The --fix-broken flag is never mentioned, and presumably many others neither.

Is there some way to access documentation for all subcommands and flags?

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[–] dotslashme@infosec.pub 0 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Check the man page for apt-get(8) instead

[–] Ephera@lemmy.ml 0 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Hmm, yeah, that does document the --fix-broken flag.

Is there any logic to it? Like, do e.g. all apt install commands correspond to apt-get install and e.g. all apt search commands to apt-cache search and one can assume those to understand the same flags with the same usage?

I guess, I could always just try to figure out where the given flag is defined and then use apt-get, apt-cache etc. directly, just to be sure that the usage is as documented...

[–] this_is_router@feddit.de 0 points 5 months ago

In the past there were mutliple tools: apt-cache (searching packages), apt-get (managing packages), apt-file (searching for files belonging to packages), apt-key (managing repository keys)...

A few years ago some developers created apt to combine these multiple tools into the single program called apt. Both tools (the old apt-... and the new apt) use dpkg in the backend to install and remove packages. Looks like apt hasn't done its documentation homework.