dpkg - Debian package manager
dpkg (Debian Package) is a low level package management system in Debian and other Linux distros based on it (Ubuntu, Mint). Usually it’s not the primary choice in Ubuntu (where you have apt and apt-get) but it’s still a tool you might need.
Like so many things in Unix world, dpkg means more than one thing.
What is dpkg?
Here are the common dpkg meanings:
- dpkg is a pakage management system
- dpkg is a tool (a Linux command)
- dpkg is a software management database (in /var/lib/dpkg)
- dpkg is a collection of tools serving the same purpose (dpkg-*)
dpkg is a low level tool, meaning it’s great for basic package management things like maintaining list of packages (that package database mentioned above) or installing a speific package (but without checking dependencies or things like this).
dpkg deliberately doesn’t get updated for more complex things as there is another family of tools doing that – called apt.
