fink
A package management system that aims to bring the full world of GNU and other common Open Source software to Darwin and MacOS X.
fink.conf
The configuration file for fink (/sw/etc/fink.conf)
apt-get
The command-line tool for handling packages, and may be considered the user's "back-end" to other tools using the APT library.
dselect
The primary user interface for managing packages on a Debian system.
dpkg
A medium-level package manager for Debian.
Contents
Fink Commands
The fink.conf file
Apt-get commands
Dselect
Dpkg
Fink Commands
"Fink has several commands that work on packages. All of them need at least one package name, and all can handle several package names at once. You can specify just the package name (e.g. gimp), or a fully qualified name with a version number (e.g. gimp-1.2.1 or gimp-1.2.1-3). Fink will automatically choose the latest available version and revision when they are not specified"
fink install 'package...'
Is used to install packages. It downloads, configure, builds and installs the packages. Check dependencies.
fink remove
Removes the actual package, but leaves the .deb compressed package file intact. Does not check dependencies.
fink update-all
Updates all installed packages to the latest version.
fink list
Produces a list of available packages, listing installation status, the latest version and a short description.
fink describe
Displays a description of the package you name on the command line.
fink fetch
Downloads the package even if it was downloaded before, but does not install it.
fink fetch-all
Downloads all package source files, even if they were downloaded before.
fink fetch-missing
Downloads all package source files, but only those files that are not present on the system.
fink build
Builds a package, but does not install it, and download the source if it is not present.
fink rebuild
Builds a package, but ignores and overwrites the existing .deb file, upgrades package with the newest build.
fink reinstall
Same as install, but will install the package via dpkg even when it is already installed.
fink configure
Reruns the fink configuration process. Will let you change your mirror sites and proxy settings.
fink selfupdate
Upgrades fink and updates the core packages, including fink itself. It can also setup your /sw/fink/dists directory tree for direct CVS updates. Then you will be able to access the very latest revisions of all packages.
fink index
Rebuilds the package cache. You should not normally need to execute this manually. Fink should auto-detect when it needs to be updated.
The fink.conf file
"When fink is initially installed it prompts you for the answers to some questions to set up your configuration file, such as which mirrors you want to use for downloading files and how to acquire super-user rights. You can re-run this process by calling the fink configure command. In order to set some options, you may need to edit your fink.conf by hand".
Trees:
Normally used to choose between the stable/main and unstable/main trees. Edit this line to use the unstable tree if you want to install from the unstable section.
ProxyPassiveFTP:
It is safest to set this to true, it is the default.
DownloadMethod:
You have a choice of using either curl or wget to download. The default is curl.
ProxyHTTP:
This line is your HTTP proxy settings. You may find it easier to edit this line directly rather than running fink configure.
ProxyFTP:
Your ftp proxy settings.
Apt-get Commands
update
This command retrieves and scans the Packages.gz files, so that information about new and updated packages is available. Should always be performed before an upgrade or dist-upgrade.
upgrade
Is used to install the newest versions of all packages currently installed on the system.
dselect-upgrade
dselect-upgrade follows the changes made by dselect to the Status field of available packages, and performs the actions necessary to realize that state (for instance, the removal of old and the installation of new packages).
dist-upgrade
Performes the function of upgrade, and also handles changing dependencies with new versions of packages;
install
Download and installs especified deb package. Don't forget to run 'apt-get update' first.
remove
Removes package and check dependencies.
source
Makes apt-get fetch source packages.
build-dep
Install/remove packages in an attempt to satisfy the build dependencies for a source packages. Right now virtual package build depends choose a package at random.
check
check is a diagnostic tool; it updates the package cache and checks for broken dependencies.
clean
Clean clears out the local repository of retrieved package files. Those who do not use dselect will likely want to run apt-get clean from time to time to free up disk space.
autoclean
Like clean, autoclean clears out the local repository of retrieved package files. The difference is that it only removes package files that can no longer be downloaded, and are largely useless.
Dselect
Is the primary user interface for installing, removing and managing Debian GNU/Linux packages. It is an front-end to dpkg. At the dselect main menu, the system administrator can:
Update the list of available package versions,
View the status of installed and available packages,
Alter package selections and manage dependencies,
Install new packages or upgrade to newer versions.
Update
Updates list of packages available to dpkg/dselect with data from the chosen repository Packages file(s).
Select
Selects individual packages to install.
Install
Installs selected packages.
Config
Configures any previously not configured packages.
Remove
Removes or purges deselected packages.
Quit
Exit dselect (successfully).
Dpkg
Is a medium-level tool to install, build, remove and manage Debian GNU/Linux packages. The primary and more user-friendly front-end for dpkg is dselect.
dpkg --install packagename
Installs the package. Check package dependencies but do not fetches dependent items.
dpkg --remove packagename
Removes package, but leaves configuration files and checks the package dependencies.
dpkg --purge packagename
Removes package and its configuration files and checks for package dependencies.
dpkg -r --force-depends packagename
Remove by force an installed package, except the configuration files and turn all dependencies into warnings.
dpkg -L packagename
will show you the list of all files installed by a package.
dpkg -S packagename
or
dpkg -S /sw/bin/packagename
will show you the package that installed the specified file.
A package management system that aims to bring the full world of GNU and other common Open Source software to Darwin and MacOS X.
fink.conf
The configuration file for fink (/sw/etc/fink.conf)
apt-get
The command-line tool for handling packages, and may be considered the user's "back-end" to other tools using the APT library.
dselect
The primary user interface for managing packages on a Debian system.
dpkg
A medium-level package manager for Debian.
Contents
Fink Commands
The fink.conf file
Apt-get commands
Dselect
Dpkg
Fink Commands
"Fink has several commands that work on packages. All of them need at least one package name, and all can handle several package names at once. You can specify just the package name (e.g. gimp), or a fully qualified name with a version number (e.g. gimp-1.2.1 or gimp-1.2.1-3). Fink will automatically choose the latest available version and revision when they are not specified"
fink install 'package...'
Is used to install packages. It downloads, configure, builds and installs the packages. Check dependencies.
fink remove
Removes the actual package, but leaves the .deb compressed package file intact. Does not check dependencies.
fink update-all
Updates all installed packages to the latest version.
fink list
Produces a list of available packages, listing installation status, the latest version and a short description.
fink describe
Displays a description of the package you name on the command line.
fink fetch
Downloads the package even if it was downloaded before, but does not install it.
fink fetch-all
Downloads all package source files, even if they were downloaded before.
fink fetch-missing
Downloads all package source files, but only those files that are not present on the system.
fink build
Builds a package, but does not install it, and download the source if it is not present.
fink rebuild
Builds a package, but ignores and overwrites the existing .deb file, upgrades package with the newest build.
fink reinstall
Same as install, but will install the package via dpkg even when it is already installed.
fink configure
Reruns the fink configuration process. Will let you change your mirror sites and proxy settings.
fink selfupdate
Upgrades fink and updates the core packages, including fink itself. It can also setup your /sw/fink/dists directory tree for direct CVS updates. Then you will be able to access the very latest revisions of all packages.
fink index
Rebuilds the package cache. You should not normally need to execute this manually. Fink should auto-detect when it needs to be updated.
The fink.conf file
"When fink is initially installed it prompts you for the answers to some questions to set up your configuration file, such as which mirrors you want to use for downloading files and how to acquire super-user rights. You can re-run this process by calling the fink configure command. In order to set some options, you may need to edit your fink.conf by hand".
Trees:
Normally used to choose between the stable/main and unstable/main trees. Edit this line to use the unstable tree if you want to install from the unstable section.
ProxyPassiveFTP:
It is safest to set this to true, it is the default.
DownloadMethod:
You have a choice of using either curl or wget to download. The default is curl.
ProxyHTTP:
This line is your HTTP proxy settings. You may find it easier to edit this line directly rather than running fink configure.
ProxyFTP:
Your ftp proxy settings.
Apt-get Commands
update
This command retrieves and scans the Packages.gz files, so that information about new and updated packages is available. Should always be performed before an upgrade or dist-upgrade.
upgrade
Is used to install the newest versions of all packages currently installed on the system.
dselect-upgrade
dselect-upgrade follows the changes made by dselect to the Status field of available packages, and performs the actions necessary to realize that state (for instance, the removal of old and the installation of new packages).
dist-upgrade
Performes the function of upgrade, and also handles changing dependencies with new versions of packages;
install
Download and installs especified deb package. Don't forget to run 'apt-get update' first.
remove
Removes package and check dependencies.
source
Makes apt-get fetch source packages.
build-dep
Install/remove packages in an attempt to satisfy the build dependencies for a source packages. Right now virtual package build depends choose a package at random.
check
check is a diagnostic tool; it updates the package cache and checks for broken dependencies.
clean
Clean clears out the local repository of retrieved package files. Those who do not use dselect will likely want to run apt-get clean from time to time to free up disk space.
autoclean
Like clean, autoclean clears out the local repository of retrieved package files. The difference is that it only removes package files that can no longer be downloaded, and are largely useless.
Dselect
Is the primary user interface for installing, removing and managing Debian GNU/Linux packages. It is an front-end to dpkg. At the dselect main menu, the system administrator can:
Update the list of available package versions,
View the status of installed and available packages,
Alter package selections and manage dependencies,
Install new packages or upgrade to newer versions.
Update
Updates list of packages available to dpkg/dselect with data from the chosen repository Packages file(s).
Select
Selects individual packages to install.
Install
Installs selected packages.
Config
Configures any previously not configured packages.
Remove
Removes or purges deselected packages.
Quit
Exit dselect (successfully).
Dpkg
Is a medium-level tool to install, build, remove and manage Debian GNU/Linux packages. The primary and more user-friendly front-end for dpkg is dselect.
dpkg --install packagename
Installs the package. Check package dependencies but do not fetches dependent items.
dpkg --remove packagename
Removes package, but leaves configuration files and checks the package dependencies.
dpkg --purge packagename
Removes package and its configuration files and checks for package dependencies.
dpkg -r --force-depends packagename
Remove by force an installed package, except the configuration files and turn all dependencies into warnings.
dpkg -L packagename
will show you the list of all files installed by a package.
dpkg -S packagename
or
dpkg -S /sw/bin/packagename
will show you the package that installed the specified file.
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