Advanced Packaging Tool (APT)

Advanced Packaging Tool (APT) is a package manager originally designed for Debian as a front-end for the dpkg utility. It is used to install or upgrade all necessary dependent applications so that .deb packages can be installed.

The APT suite of tools includes a couple of programs. Two of the most commonly used are:

• apt-cache – provides information about the Debian package database.
• apt-get – used to install, upgrade or remove software packages.

Several front-ends to APT exist, which provide more advanced installation functions and more intuitive interfaces. These include:

• Synaptic Package Manager – GTK+ graphical user interface.
• Ubuntu Software Center – a GTK+ graphical user interface developed by the Ubuntu project.
• aptitude – a console client with CLI.
• KPackage – part of KDE.

Here is how Ubuntu Software Center looks like: