Hardware Reference
In-Depth Information
The APT can automatically download the software that you want to install from
repositories that are preconfigured. A repository is a collection of precompiled
software that can be installed. These repositories are automatically selected, based
on your location, to maximize download speed. It also automatically handles
updates of all the software packages that are installed on your Raspberry Pi. The
APT was first released in 1998 and is often hailed as one of Debian's best features.
Methods of installing software
There are several different ways to install software on your Raspberry Pi.
These include:
• apt-get
• GUI Package Manager
• Aptitude
• Raspberry Pi Store
• The source
All of these methods, with the exception of installing from source code, use APT
and dpkg to install the software package.
dpkg
dpkg is a software application at the center of Raspbian's software package
management system. It is a software tool that actually installs a software
package from a
.deb
file.
A
.deb
file contains three different parts:
• A Debian-binary file that contains the version of dpkg needed to install
the package
• A control archive that has all the information needed to install the package
• A data archive that contains the actual software itself
dpkg reads the
.deb
file and determines whether all of the required software is
installed. If the required software isn't installed, it will let you know what the
required software is.
