APT2 to Accelerate Debian Package Installation
Debian and Ubuntu developer Julian Andres Klode has reported in his blog about the progress of his APT2 software, an alternative implementation of the Debian Advanced Packaging Tool (APT).
APT2, whose development Klode began in August 2009, consists mainly of the libapt library that prepares package management functions. The capt command line tool provides the front end. The programmer implements the glib cross-platform library and the new Vala object-oriented language for it.
The database backend used most recently is SQLite 3, which can store comprehensive metadata and converts queries to common SQL statements. It also helps increase the performance of the APT implementation. According to Klode, capt searches eight times faster than aptitude and around three times faster than apt-cache.
The capt CLI uses the readline library, which is also in bash, and thus provides an interactive package shell with history (and command completion to follow). Some usage examples:
jak@hp:~/Desktop/APT2:temp$ capt
apt$ help
APT2 0.0.20091213 command-line frontend
Commands:
config dump Dump the configuration
config get OPTION Get the given option
config set OPTION VALUE Set the given option
search EXPRESSION Search for the given expression
show PACKAGE Show all versions of the given package
sources list Print a list of all sources
version Print the version of APT2
Klode hopes to have a first release of APT2 completed by Christmas 2009, as he indicates in his blog. It will partly depend on whether Vala 0.7.9 or a newer version is ready.
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.
News
-
Gnome 47.2 Now Available
Gnome 47.2 is now available for general use but don't expect much in the way of newness, as this is all about improvements and bug fixes.
-
Latest Cinnamon Desktop Releases with a Bold New Look
Just in time for the holidays, the developer of the Cinnamon desktop has shipped a new release to help spice up your eggnog with new features and a new look.
-
Armbian 24.11 Released with Expanded Hardware Support
If you've been waiting for Armbian to support OrangePi 5 Max and Radxa ROCK 5B+, the wait is over.
-
SUSE Renames Several Products for Better Name Recognition
SUSE has been a very powerful player in the European market, but it knows it must branch out to gain serious traction. Will a name change do the trick?
-
ESET Discovers New Linux Malware
WolfsBane is an all-in-one malware that has hit the Linux operating system and includes a dropper, a launcher, and a backdoor.
-
New Linux Kernel Patch Allows Forcing a CPU Mitigation
Even when CPU mitigations can consume precious CPU cycles, it might not be a bad idea to allow users to enable them, even if your machine isn't vulnerable.
-
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9.5 Released
Notify your friends, loved ones, and colleagues that the latest version of RHEL is available with plenty of enhancements.
-
Linux Sees Massive Performance Increase from a Single Line of Code
With one line of code, Intel was able to increase the performance of the Linux kernel by 4,000 percent.
-
Fedora KDE Approved as an Official Spin
If you prefer the Plasma desktop environment and the Fedora distribution, you're in luck because there's now an official spin that is listed on the same level as the Fedora Workstation edition.
-
New Steam Client Ups the Ante for Linux
The latest release from Steam has some pretty cool tricks up its sleeve.