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+<head>
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+<meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1">
+
+<title>The Debian GNU/Linux FAQ - Keeping your Debian system up-to-date</title>
+
+<link href="index.en.html" rel="start">
+<link href="ch-pkgtools.en.html" rel="prev">
+<link href="ch-kernel.en.html" rel="next">
+<link href="index.en.html#contents" rel="contents">
+<link href="index.en.html#copyright" rel="copyright">
+<link href="ch-basic_defs.en.html" rel="chapter" title="1 Definitions and overview">
+<link href="ch-getting.en.html" rel="chapter" title="2 Getting and installing Debian GNU/Linux">
+<link href="ch-choosing.en.html" rel="chapter" title="3 Choosing a Debian distribution">
+<link href="ch-compat.en.html" rel="chapter" title="4 Compatibility issues">
+<link href="ch-software.en.html" rel="chapter" title="5 Software available in the Debian system">
+<link href="ch-ftparchives.en.html" rel="chapter" title="6 The Debian FTP archives">
+<link href="ch-pkg_basics.en.html" rel="chapter" title="7 Basics of the Debian package management system">
+<link href="ch-pkgtools.en.html" rel="chapter" title="8 The Debian package management tools">
+<link href="ch-uptodate.en.html" rel="chapter" title="9 Keeping your Debian system up-to-date">
+<link href="ch-kernel.en.html" rel="chapter" title="10 Debian and the kernel">
+<link href="ch-customizing.en.html" rel="chapter" title="11 Customizing your installation of Debian GNU/Linux">
+<link href="ch-support.en.html" rel="chapter" title="12 Getting support for Debian GNU/Linux">
+<link href="ch-contributing.en.html" rel="chapter" title="13 Contributing to the Debian Project">
+<link href="ch-redistrib.en.html" rel="chapter" title="14 Redistributing Debian GNU/Linux in a commercial product">
+<link href="ch-nexttime.en.html" rel="chapter" title="15 Changes expected in the next major release of Debian">
+<link href="ch-faqinfo.en.html" rel="chapter" title="16 General information about the FAQ">
+<link href="ch-basic_defs.en.html#s-whatisfaq" rel="section" title="1.1 What is this FAQ?">
+<link href="ch-basic_defs.en.html#s-whatisdebian" rel="section" title="1.2 What is Debian GNU/Linux?">
+<link href="ch-basic_defs.en.html#s-linux" rel="section" title="1.3 OK, now I know what Debian is... what is Linux?!">
+<link href="ch-basic_defs.en.html#s-non-linux" rel="section" title="1.4 Does Debian just do GNU/Linux?">
+<link href="ch-basic_defs.en.html#s-difference" rel="section" title="1.5 What is the difference between Debian GNU/Linux and other Linux distributions? Why should I choose Debian over some other distribution?">
+<link href="ch-basic_defs.en.html#s-gnu" rel="section" title="1.6 How does the Debian project fit in or compare with the Free Software Foundation's GNU project?">
+<link href="ch-basic_defs.en.html#s-pronunciation" rel="section" title="1.7 How does one pronounce Debian and what does this word mean?">
+<link href="ch-getting.en.html#s-version" rel="section" title="2.1 What is the latest version of Debian?">
+<link href="ch-getting.en.html#s-updatestable" rel="section" title="2.2 Are there package upgrades in `stable'?">
+<link href="ch-getting.en.html#s-boot-floppies" rel="section" title="2.3 Where/how can I get the Debian installation disks?">
+<link href="ch-getting.en.html#s-cdrom" rel="section" title="2.4 How do I install the Debian from CD-ROMs?">
+<link href="ch-getting.en.html#s-cdimage-symlinks" rel="section" title="2.5 Why does the official stable released CD-ROM contain symlinks for `frozen' and `unstable'? I thought this CD contains just `stable'!">
+<link href="ch-getting.en.html#s-remoteinstall" rel="section" title="2.6 Can I get and install Debian directly from a remote Internet site?">
+<link href="ch-getting.en.html#s-alternativebootinstaller" rel="section" title="2.7 Are there any alternative strategies for booting the system installer?">
+<link href="ch-choosing.en.html#s3.1" rel="section" title="3.1 Which Debian distribution (stable/testing/unstable) is better for me?">
+<link href="ch-choosing.en.html#s3.2" rel="section" title="3.2 But what about Knoppix, Linex, Ubuntu, and others?">
+<link href="ch-compat.en.html#s-arches" rel="section" title="4.1 On what hardware architectures/systems does Debian GNU/Linux run?">
+<link href="ch-compat.en.html#s-otherdistribs" rel="section" title="4.2 How compatible is Debian with other distributions of Linux?">
+<link href="ch-compat.en.html#s-otherunices" rel="section" title="4.3 How source code compatible is Debian with other Unix systems?">
+<link href="ch-compat.en.html#s-otherpackages" rel="section" title="4.4 Can I use Debian packages (&quot;.deb&quot; files) on my Red Hat/Slackware/... Linux system? Can I use Red Hat packages (&quot;.rpm&quot; files) on my Debian GNU/Linux system?">
+<link href="ch-compat.en.html#s-non-debian-programs" rel="section" title="4.5 How should I install a non-Debian program?">
+<link href="ch-compat.en.html#s-termcap" rel="section" title="4.6 Why can't I compile programs that require libtermcap?">
+<link href="ch-compat.en.html#s-accelx" rel="section" title="4.7 Why can't I install AccelX?">
+<link href="ch-compat.en.html#s-motifnls" rel="section" title="4.8 Why do my old XFree 2.1 Motif applications crash?">
+<link href="ch-software.en.html#s-apps" rel="section" title="5.1 What types of applications and development software are available for Debian GNU/Linux?">
+<link href="ch-software.en.html#s-softwareauthors" rel="section" title="5.2 Who wrote all that software?">
+<link href="ch-software.en.html#s-pkglist" rel="section" title="5.3 How can I get a current list of programs that have been packaged for Debian?">
+<link href="ch-software.en.html#s-buildenv" rel="section" title="5.4 How can I install a developer's environment to build packages?">
+<link href="ch-software.en.html#s-missing" rel="section" title="5.5 What is missing from Debian GNU/Linux?">
+<link href="ch-software.en.html#s-no-devs" rel="section" title="5.6 Why do I get &quot;ld: cannot find -lfoo&quot; messages when compiling programs? Why aren't there any libfoo.so files in Debian library packages?">
+<link href="ch-software.en.html#s-java" rel="section" title="5.7 (How) Does Debian support Java?">
+<link href="ch-software.en.html#s-isitdebian" rel="section" title="5.8 How can I check that I am using a Debian system, and what version is it?">
+<link href="ch-software.en.html#s-nonenglish" rel="section" title="5.9 How does Debian support non-English languages?">
+<link href="ch-software.en.html#s-pine" rel="section" title="5.10 Where is pine?">
+<link href="ch-software.en.html#s-qmail" rel="section" title="5.11 Where is qmail/ezmlm/djbdns?">
+<link href="ch-software.en.html#s-flash" rel="section" title="5.12 Where is a player for Flash (SWF)?">
+<link href="ch-software.en.html#s-googleearth" rel="section" title="5.13 Where is Google Earth?">
+<link href="ch-software.en.html#s-voip" rel="section" title="5.14 Where is VoIP software?">
+<link href="ch-software.en.html#s-nonfreewireless" rel="section" title="5.15 I have a wireless network card which doesn't work with Linux. What should I do?">
+<link href="ch-ftparchives.en.html#s-dists" rel="section" title="6.1 How many Debian distributions are there?">
+<link href="ch-ftparchives.en.html#s-codenames" rel="section" title="6.2 What are all those names like etch, lenny, etc.?">
+<link href="ch-ftparchives.en.html#s-sid" rel="section" title="6.3 What about &quot;sid&quot;?">
+<link href="ch-ftparchives.en.html#s-stable" rel="section" title="6.4 What does the stable directory contain?">
+<link href="ch-ftparchives.en.html#s-testing" rel="section" title="6.5 What does the testing distribution contain?">
+<link href="ch-ftparchives.en.html#s-unstable" rel="section" title="6.6 What does the unstable distribution contain?">
+<link href="ch-ftparchives.en.html#s-dirtree" rel="section" title="6.7 What are all those directories at the Debian FTP archives?">
+<link href="ch-ftparchives.en.html#s-archsections" rel="section" title="6.8 What are all those directories inside <samp>dists/stable/main</samp>?">
+<link href="ch-ftparchives.en.html#s-source" rel="section" title="6.9 Where is the source code?">
+<link href="ch-ftparchives.en.html#s-pools" rel="section" title="6.10 What's in the <samp>pool</samp> directory?">
+<link href="ch-ftparchives.en.html#s-incoming" rel="section" title="6.11 What is &quot;incoming&quot;?">
+<link href="ch-ftparchives.en.html#s-ownrepository" rel="section" title="6.12 How do I set up my own apt-able repository?">
+<link href="ch-pkg_basics.en.html#s-package" rel="section" title="7.1 What is a Debian package?">
+<link href="ch-pkg_basics.en.html#s-deb-format" rel="section" title="7.2 What is the format of a Debian binary package?">
+<link href="ch-pkg_basics.en.html#s-pkgname" rel="section" title="7.3 Why are Debian package file names so long?">
+<link href="ch-pkg_basics.en.html#s-controlfile" rel="section" title="7.4 What is a Debian control file?">
+<link href="ch-pkg_basics.en.html#s-conffile" rel="section" title="7.5 What is a Debian conffile?">
+<link href="ch-pkg_basics.en.html#s-maintscripts" rel="section" title="7.6 What is a Debian preinst, postinst, prerm, and postrm script?">
+<link href="ch-pkg_basics.en.html#s-priority" rel="section" title="7.7 What is an <em>Essential</em>, <em>Required</em>, <em>Important</em>, <em>Standard</em>, <em>Optional</em>, or <em>Extra</em> package?">
+<link href="ch-pkg_basics.en.html#s-virtual" rel="section" title="7.8 What is a Virtual Package?">
+<link href="ch-pkg_basics.en.html#s-depends" rel="section" title="7.9 What is meant by saying that a package <em>Depends</em>, <em>Recommends</em>, <em>Suggests</em>, <em>Conflicts</em>, <em>Replaces</em> or <em>Provides</em> another package?">
+<link href="ch-pkg_basics.en.html#s-pre-depends" rel="section" title="7.10 What is meant by Pre-Depends?">
+<link href="ch-pkg_basics.en.html#s-pkgstatus" rel="section" title="7.11 What is meant by <em>unknown</em>, <em>install</em>, <em>remove</em>, <em>purge</em> and <em>hold</em> in the package status?">
+<link href="ch-pkg_basics.en.html#s-puttingonhold" rel="section" title="7.12 How do I put a package on hold?">
+<link href="ch-pkg_basics.en.html#s-sourcepkgs" rel="section" title="7.13 How do I install a source package?">
+<link href="ch-pkg_basics.en.html#s-sourcebuild" rel="section" title="7.14 How do I build binary packages from a source package?">
+<link href="ch-pkg_basics.en.html#s-creatingdebs" rel="section" title="7.15 How do I create Debian packages myself?">
+<link href="ch-pkgtools.en.html#s-pkgprogs" rel="section" title="8.1 What programs does Debian provide for managing its packages?">
+<link href="ch-pkgtools.en.html#s-updaterunning" rel="section" title="8.2 Debian claims to be able to update a running program; how is this accomplished?">
+<link href="ch-pkgtools.en.html#s-whatpackages" rel="section" title="8.3 How can I tell what packages are already installed on a Debian system?">
+<link href="ch-pkgtools.en.html#s-listfiles" rel="section" title="8.4 How to display the files of a package installed?">
+<link href="ch-pkgtools.en.html#s-filesearch" rel="section" title="8.5 How can I find out what package produced a particular file?">
+<link href="ch-pkgtools.en.html#s-datapackages" rel="section" title="8.6 Why doesn't get `foo-data' removed when I uninstall `foo'? How do I make sure old unused library-packages get purged?">
+<link href="ch-uptodate.en.html#s-howtocurrent" rel="section" title="9.1 How can I keep my Debian system current?">
+<link href="ch-uptodate.en.html#s-upgradesingle" rel="section" title="9.2 Must I go into single user mode in order to upgrade a package?">
+<link href="ch-uptodate.en.html#s-savedebs" rel="section" title="9.3 Do I have to keep all those .deb archive files on my disk?">
+<link href="ch-uptodate.en.html#s-keepingalog" rel="section" title="9.4 How can I keep a log of the packages I added to the system? I'd like to know when which package upgrades and removals have occured!">
+<link href="ch-uptodate.en.html#s-autoupdate" rel="section" title="9.5 Can I automatically update the system?">
+<link href="ch-uptodate.en.html#s-aptproxy" rel="section" title="9.6 I have several machines how can I download the updates only one time?">
+<link href="ch-kernel.en.html#s-non-debian-kernel" rel="section" title="10.1 Can I install and compile a kernel without some Debian-specific tweaking?">
+<link href="ch-kernel.en.html#s-customkernel" rel="section" title="10.2 What tools does Debian provide to build custom kernels?">
+<link href="ch-kernel.en.html#s-custombootdisk" rel="section" title="10.3 How can I make a custom boot floppy?">
+<link href="ch-kernel.en.html#s-modules" rel="section" title="10.4 What special provisions does Debian provide to deal with modules?">
+<link href="ch-kernel.en.html#s-removeoldkernel" rel="section" title="10.5 Can I safely de-install an old kernel package, and if so, how?">
+<link href="ch-customizing.en.html#s-papersize" rel="section" title="11.1 How can I ensure that all programs use the same paper size?">
+<link href="ch-customizing.en.html#s-hardwareaccess" rel="section" title="11.2 How can I provide access to hardware peripherals, without compromising security?">
+<link href="ch-customizing.en.html#s-consolefont" rel="section" title="11.3 How do I load a console font on startup the Debian way?">
+<link href="ch-customizing.en.html#s-appdefaults" rel="section" title="11.4 How can I configure an X11 program's application defaults?">
+<link href="ch-customizing.en.html#s-booting" rel="section" title="11.5 Every distribution seems to have a different boot-up method. Tell me about Debian's.">
+<link href="ch-customizing.en.html#s-custombootscripts" rel="section" title="11.6 It looks as if Debian does not use <samp>rc.local</samp> to customize the boot process; what facilities are provided?">
+<link href="ch-customizing.en.html#s-interconffiles" rel="section" title="11.7 How does the package management system deal with packages that contain configuration files for other packages?">
+<link href="ch-customizing.en.html#s-divert" rel="section" title="11.8 How do I override a file installed by a package, so that a different version can be used instead?">
+<link href="ch-customizing.en.html#s-localpackages" rel="section" title="11.9 How can I have my locally-built package included in the list of available packages that the package management system knows about?">
+<link href="ch-customizing.en.html#s-diverse" rel="section" title="11.10 Some users like mawk, others like gawk; some like vim, others like elvis; some like trn, others like tin; how does Debian support diversity?">
+<link href="ch-support.en.html#s-debiandocs" rel="section" title="12.1 What other documentation exists on and for a Debian system?">
+<link href="ch-support.en.html#s-onlineresources" rel="section" title="12.2 Are there any on-line resources for discussing Debian?">
+<link href="ch-support.en.html#s-searchtools" rel="section" title="12.3 Is there a quick way to search for information on Debian GNU/Linux?">
+<link href="ch-support.en.html#s-buglogs" rel="section" title="12.4 Are there logs of known bugs?">
+<link href="ch-support.en.html#s-bugreport" rel="section" title="12.5 How do I report a bug in Debian?">
+<link href="ch-contributing.en.html#s-contrib" rel="section" title="13.1 How can I become a Debian software developer?">
+<link href="ch-contributing.en.html#s-contribresources" rel="section" title="13.2 How can I contribute resources to the Debian project?">
+<link href="ch-contributing.en.html#s-supportingorganizations" rel="section" title="13.3 How can I contribute financially to the Debian project?">
+<link href="ch-redistrib.en.html#s-sellcds" rel="section" title="14.1 Can I make and sell Debian CDs?">
+<link href="ch-redistrib.en.html#s-packagednonfree" rel="section" title="14.2 Can Debian be packaged with non-free software?">
+<link href="ch-redistrib.en.html#s-childistro" rel="section" title="14.3 I am making a special Linux distribution for a &quot;vertical market&quot;. Can I use Debian GNU/Linux for the guts of a Linux system and add my own applications on top of it?">
+<link href="ch-redistrib.en.html#s-commercialdebs" rel="section" title="14.4 Can I put my commercial program in a Debian &quot;package&quot; so that it installs effortlessly on any Debian system?">
+<link href="ch-nexttime.en.html#s-i18n" rel="section" title="15.1 Extended support for non-English users">
+<link href="ch-nexttime.en.html#s-dependencybasedboot" rel="section" title="15.2 Faster booting: Dependency based boot sequence">
+<link href="ch-nexttime.en.html#s-di" rel="section" title="15.3 Improvements in the Debian Installer">
+<link href="ch-nexttime.en.html#s-morearches" rel="section" title="15.4 More architectures">
+<link href="ch-nexttime.en.html#s-morekernels" rel="section" title="15.5 More kernels">
+<link href="ch-faqinfo.en.html#s-authors" rel="section" title="16.1 Authors">
+<link href="ch-faqinfo.en.html#s-feedback" rel="section" title="16.2 Feedback">
+<link href="ch-faqinfo.en.html#s-latest" rel="section" title="16.3 Availability">
+<link href="ch-faqinfo.en.html#s-docformat" rel="section" title="16.4 Document format">
+<link href="ch-choosing.en.html#s3.1.1" rel="subsection" title="3.1.1 You asked me to install stable, but in stable so and so hardware is not detected/working. What should I do?">
+<link href="ch-choosing.en.html#s3.1.2" rel="subsection" title="3.1.2 Will there be different different versions of packages in different distributions?">
+<link href="ch-choosing.en.html#s3.1.3" rel="subsection" title="3.1.3 The stable distributions really contains outdated packages. Just look at Kde, Gnome, Xorg or even the kernel. They are very old. Why is it so?">
+<link href="ch-choosing.en.html#s3.1.4" rel="subsection" title="3.1.4 If I were to decide to change to another distribution, Can I do that?">
+<link href="ch-choosing.en.html#s3.1.5" rel="subsection" title="3.1.5 Could you tell me whether to install testing or unstable?">
+<link href="ch-choosing.en.html#s3.1.6" rel="subsection" title="3.1.6 You are talking about testing being broken. What do you mean by that?">
+<link href="ch-choosing.en.html#s3.1.7" rel="subsection" title="3.1.7 Why is it that testing could be broken for months? Wont the fixes introduced in unstable flow directly down into testing?">
+<link href="ch-choosing.en.html#s3.1.8" rel="subsection" title="3.1.8 From an administrator's point of view, Which distribution requires more attention?">
+<link href="ch-choosing.en.html#s3.1.9" rel="subsection" title="3.1.9 What happens when a new release is made?">
+<link href="ch-choosing.en.html#s3.1.10" rel="subsection" title="3.1.10 I have a working Desktop/cluster with Debian installed. How do I know which distribution I am running?">
+<link href="ch-choosing.en.html#s3.1.11" rel="subsection" title="3.1.11 I am currently tracking stable. Can I change to testing or unstable? If so, How?">
+<link href="ch-choosing.en.html#s3.1.12" rel="subsection" title="3.1.12 I am currently tracking testing (lenny). What will happen when a release is made? Will I still be tracking testing or will my machine be running the new stable distribution?">
+<link href="ch-choosing.en.html#s3.1.13" rel="subsection" title="3.1.13 I am still confused. What did you say I should install?">
+<link href="ch-choosing.en.html#s3.2.1" rel="subsection" title="3.2.1 I know that Knoppix/Linex/Ubuntu/... is Debian-based. So after installing it on the hard disk, can I use 'apt' package tools on it?">
+<link href="ch-choosing.en.html#s3.2.2" rel="subsection" title="3.2.2 I installed Knoppix/Linex/Ubuntu/... on my hard disk. Now I have a problem. What should I do?">
+<link href="ch-choosing.en.html#s3.2.3" rel="subsection" title="3.2.3 I'm using Knoppix/Linex/Ubuntu/... and now I want to use Debian. How do I migrate?">
+<link href="ch-ftparchives.en.html#s-oldcodenames" rel="subsection" title="6.2.1 Which other codenames have been used in the past?">
+<link href="ch-ftparchives.en.html#s-sourceforcodenames" rel="subsection" title="6.2.2 Where do these codenames come from?">
+<link href="ch-ftparchives.en.html#s-frozen" rel="subsection" title="6.5.1 What about &quot;testing&quot;? How is it `frozen'?">
+<link href="ch-pkgtools.en.html#s-dpkg" rel="subsection" title="8.1.1 dpkg">
+<link href="ch-pkgtools.en.html#s-apt-get" rel="subsection" title="8.1.2 APT">
+<link href="ch-pkgtools.en.html#s-aptitude" rel="subsection" title="8.1.3 aptitude">
+<link href="ch-pkgtools.en.html#s-synaptic" rel="subsection" title="8.1.4 synaptic">
+<link href="ch-pkgtools.en.html#s-tasksel" rel="subsection" title="8.1.5 tasksel">
+<link href="ch-pkgtools.en.html#s-dpkg-extra" rel="subsection" title="8.1.6 Other package management tools">
+<link href="ch-pkgtools.en.html#s-dselect" rel="subsection" title="8.1.6.1 dselect">
+<link href="ch-pkgtools.en.html#s-dpkg-deb" rel="subsection" title="8.1.6.2 dpkg-deb">
+<link href="ch-pkgtools.en.html#s-dpkg-split" rel="subsection" title="8.1.6.3 dpkg-split">
+<link href="ch-uptodate.en.html#s-aptitude-upgrade" rel="subsection" title="9.1.1 aptitude">
+<link href="ch-uptodate.en.html#s-apt" rel="subsection" title="9.1.2 apt-get, dselect and apt-cdrom">
+<link href="ch-uptodate.en.html#s-update_aptitude" rel="subsection" title="9.1.3 aptitude">
+<link href="ch-uptodate.en.html#s-mirror" rel="subsection" title="9.1.4 mirror">
+<link href="ch-uptodate.en.html#s-dpkg-mountable" rel="subsection" title="9.1.5 dpkg-mountable">
+<link href="ch-support.en.html#s12.2.1" rel="subsection" title="12.2.1 Mailing lists">
+<link href="ch-support.en.html#s-mailinglistconduct" rel="subsection" title="12.2.1.1 What is the code of conduct for the mailing lists?">
+<link href="ch-support.en.html#s12.2.2" rel="subsection" title="12.2.2 Web forums">
+<link href="ch-support.en.html#s12.2.3" rel="subsection" title="12.2.3 Wiki">
+<link href="ch-support.en.html#s12.2.4" rel="subsection" title="12.2.4 Maintainers">
+<link href="ch-support.en.html#s12.2.5" rel="subsection" title="12.2.5 Usenet newsgroups">
+<link href="ch-contributing.en.html#s-SPI" rel="subsection" title="13.3.1 Software in the Public Interest">
+<link href="ch-contributing.en.html#s-FSF" rel="subsection" title="13.3.2 Free Software Foundation">
+
+</head>
+
+<body>
+
+<p><a name="ch-uptodate"></a></p>
+<hr>
+
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+</p>
+
+<hr>
+
+<h1>
+The Debian GNU/Linux FAQ
+<br>Chapter 9 - Keeping your Debian system up-to-date
+</h1>
+
+<hr>
+
+<p>
+A Debian goal is to provide a consistent upgrade path and a secure upgrade
+process. We always do our best to make upgrading to new releases a smooth
+procedure. In case there's some important note to add to the upgrade process,
+the packages will alert the user, and often provide a solution to a possible
+problem.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+You should also read the Release Notes document that describes the details of
+specific upgrades. It is shipped on all Debian CDs and available on the WWW at
+<code><a
+href="http://www.debian.org/releases/stable/releasenotes">http://www.debian.org/releases/stable/releasenotes</a></code>.
+</p>
+
+<hr>
+
+<h2><a name="s-howtocurrent"></a>9.1 How can I keep my Debian system current?</h2>
+
+<p>
+One could simply execute an anonymous ftp call to a Debian archive, then peruse
+the directories until one finds the desired file, and then fetch it, and
+finally install it using <samp>dpkg</samp>. Note that <samp>dpkg</samp> will
+install upgrade files in place, even on a running system. Sometimes, a revised
+package will require the installation of a newly revised version of another
+package, in which case the installation will fail until/unless the other
+package is installed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Many people find this approach much too time-consuming, since Debian evolves so
+quickly -- typically, a dozen or more new packages are uploaded every week.
+This number is larger just before a new major release. To deal with this
+avalanche, many people prefer to use a more automated method. Several
+different packages are available for this purpose:
+</p>
+
+<hr>
+
+<h3><a name="s-aptitude-upgrade"></a>9.1.1 aptitude</h3>
+
+<p>
+APT is an advanced interface to the Debian packaging system. It features
+complete installation ordering, multiple source capability and several other
+unique features, see the User's Guide in
+<samp>/usr/share/doc/apt-doc/guide.html/index.html</samp> (you will have to
+install the <samp>apt-doc</samp> package).
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<code>aptitude</code> is the recommended package manager for Debian GNU/Linux
+systems. It is a text-based interface to APT using the curses library, and can
+be used to perform management tasks in a fast and easy way.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Before you can use <code>aptitude</code>, you'll have to edit the
+<samp>/etc/apt/sources.list</samp> file to set it up. If you wish to upgrade
+to the latest stable version of Debian, you'll probably want to use a source
+like this one:
+</p>
+
+<pre>
+ http://ftp.us.debian.org/debian stable main contrib non-free
+</pre>
+
+<p>
+You can replace ftp.us.debian.org with the name of a faster Debian mirror near
+you. See the mirror list at <code><a
+href="http://www.debian.org/mirror/list">http://www.debian.org/mirror/list</a></code>
+for more information.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+More details on this can be found in the <code>sources.list(8)</code> manual
+page.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+To update your system, run
+</p>
+
+<pre>
+ aptitude update
+</pre>
+
+<p>
+followed by
+</p>
+
+<pre>
+ aptitude dist-upgrade
+</pre>
+
+<p>
+Answer any questions that might come up, and your system will be upgraded. See
+also <a href="ch-pkgtools.en.html#s-aptitude">aptitude, Section 8.1.3</a>.
+</p>
+
+<hr>
+
+<h3><a name="s-apt"></a>9.1.2 apt-get, dselect and apt-cdrom</h3>
+
+<p>
+<code>apt-get</code> is an APT-based command-line tool for handling packages,
+and the APT dselect method is an interface to APT through <code>dselect</code>.
+Both of these provide a simple, safe way to install and upgrade packages.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+To use <code>apt-get</code>, install the <code>apt</code> package, and edit the
+<samp>/etc/apt/sources.list</samp> file to set it up, just as for <a
+href="#s-aptitude-upgrade">aptitude, Section 9.1.1</a>.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then run
+</p>
+
+<pre>
+ apt-get update
+</pre>
+
+<p>
+followed by
+</p>
+
+<pre>
+ apt-get dist-upgrade
+</pre>
+
+<p>
+Answer any questions that might come up, and your system will be upgraded. See
+also the <code>apt-get(8)</code> manual page, as well as <a
+href="ch-pkgtools.en.html#s-apt-get">APT, Section 8.1.2</a>.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+To use APT with <code>dselect</code>, choose the APT access method in dselect's
+method selection screen (option 0) and then specify the sources that should be
+used. The configuration file is <code>/etc/apt/sources.list</code>. See also
+<a href="ch-pkgtools.en.html#s-dselect">dselect, Section 8.1.6.1</a>.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+If you want to use CDs to install packages, you can use <code>apt-cdrom</code>.
+For details, please see the Release Notes, section &quot;Setting up for an
+upgrade from a local mirror&quot;.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Please note that when you get and install the packages, you'll still have them
+kept in your /var directory hierarchy. To keep your partition from
+overflowing, remember to delete extra files using <samp>apt-get clean</samp>
+and <samp>apt-get autoclean</samp>, or to move them someplace else (hint: use
+<code>apt-move</code>).
+</p>
+
+<hr>
+
+<h3><a name="s-update_aptitude"></a>9.1.3 aptitude</h3>
+
+<p>
+<code>aptitude</code> is a text-based interface to the Debian package system.
+It allows the user to view the list of packages and to perform package
+management tasks such as installing, upgrading, and removing packages (see <a
+href="ch-pkgtools.en.html#s-aptitude">aptitude, Section 8.1.3</a>). Actions
+may be performed from a visual interface or from the command-line.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In command line, the actions are similar to that of APT, so to upgrade your
+system run
+</p>
+
+<pre>
+ aptitude update
+</pre>
+
+<p>
+followed by
+</p>
+
+<pre>
+ aptitude dist-upgrade
+</pre>
+
+<p>
+To upgrade from a preview release, <code>aptitude</code> is the tool
+recommended. Read the Release Notes at <code><a
+href="http://www.debian.org/releases/stable/releasenotes">http://www.debian.org/releases/stable/releasenotes</a></code>.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+For details, see the manual page <code>aptitude(8)</code>, and the file
+<code>/usr/share/aptitude/README</code>
+</p>
+
+<hr>
+
+<h3><a name="s-mirror"></a>9.1.4 mirror</h3>
+
+<p>
+This Perl script, and its (optional) manager program called
+<code>mirror-master</code>, can be used to fetch user-specified parts of a
+directory tree from a specified host <em>via</em> anonymous FTP.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<code>mirror</code> is particularly useful for downloading large volumes of
+software. After the first time files have been downloaded from a site, a file
+called <samp>.mirrorinfo</samp> is stored on the local host. Changes to the
+remote file system are tracked automatically by <code>mirror</code>, which
+compares this file to a similar file on the remote system and downloads only
+changed files.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The <code>mirror</code> program is generally useful for updating local copies
+of remote directory trees. The files fetched need not be Debian files. (Since
+<code>mirror</code> is a Perl script, it can also run on non-Unix systems.)
+Though the <code>mirror</code> program provides mechanisms for excluding files
+names of which match user-specified strings, this program is most useful when
+the objective is to download whole directory trees, rather than selected
+packages.
+</p>
+
+<hr>
+
+<h3><a name="s-dpkg-mountable"></a>9.1.5 dpkg-mountable</h3>
+
+<p>
+dpkg-mountable adds an access method called `mountable' to dselect's list,
+which allows you to install from any file system specified in /etc/fstab. For
+example, the archive could be a normal hard disk partition or an NFS server,
+which it will automatically mount and umount for you if necessary.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It also has some extra features not found in the standard dselect methods, such
+as provision for a local file tree (either parallel to the main distribution or
+totally separate), and only getting packages which are required, rather than
+the time-consuming recursive directory scan, as well as logging of all dpkg
+actions in the install method.
+</p>
+
+<hr>
+
+<h2><a name="s-upgradesingle"></a>9.2 Must I go into single user mode in order to upgrade a package?</h2>
+
+<p>
+No. Packages can be upgraded in place, even in running systems. Debian has a
+<samp>start-stop-daemon</samp> program that is invoked to stop, then restart
+running process if necessary during a package upgrade.
+</p>
+
+<hr>
+
+<h2><a name="s-savedebs"></a>9.3 Do I have to keep all those .deb archive files on my disk?</h2>
+
+<p>
+No. If you have downloaded the files to your disk then after you have
+installed the packages, you can remove them from your system, e.g. by running
+<samp>aptitude clean</samp>.
+</p>
+
+<hr>
+
+<h2><a name="s-keepingalog"></a>9.4 How can I keep a log of the packages I added to the system? I'd like to know when which package upgrades and removals have occured!</h2>
+
+<p>
+Passing the <samp>--log</samp>-option to <code>dpkg</code> makes
+<code>dpkg</code> log status change updates and actions. It logs both the
+<code>dpkg</code>-invokation (e.g.
+</p>
+
+<pre>
+ 2005-12-30 18:10:33 install hello 1.3.18 2.1.1-4
+</pre>
+
+<p>
+) and the results (e.g.
+</p>
+
+<pre>
+ 2005-12-30 18:10:35 status installed hello 2.1.1-4
+</pre>
+
+<p>
+) If you'd like to log all your <code>dpkg</code> invokations (even those done
+using frontends like <code>aptitude</code>), you could add
+</p>
+
+<pre>
+ log /var/log/dpkg.log
+</pre>
+
+<p>
+to your <code>/etc/dpkg/dpkg.cfg</code>. Be sure the created logfile gets
+rotated periodically. If you're using <code>logrotate</code>, this can be
+achieved by creating a file <code>/etc/logrotate.d/dpkg</code> with contents
+</p>
+
+<pre>
+ /var/log/dpkg {
+ missingok
+ notifempty
+ }
+</pre>
+
+<p>
+More details on <code>dpkg</code> logging can be found in the
+<code>dpkg(1)</code> manual page.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<code>aptitude</code> logs the package installations, removals, and upgrades
+that it intends to perform to <code>/var/log/aptitude</code>. Note that the
+<em>results</em> of those actions are not recorded in this file!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Another way to record your actions is to run your package management session
+within the <code>script(1)</code> program.
+</p>
+
+<hr>
+
+<h2><a name="s-autoupdate"></a>9.5 Can I automatically update the system?</h2>
+
+<p>
+Yes. You can use <code>cron-apt</code>, this tool updates the system at
+regular interval by using a cron job. By default it just updates the package
+list and download new packages without installing.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Note: Automatic upgrade of packages is <strong>NOT</strong> recommended in
+<em>testing</em> or <em>unstable</em> systems as this might bring unexpected
+behaviour and remove packages without notice.
+</p>
+
+<hr>
+
+<h2><a name="s-aptproxy"></a>9.6 I have several machines how can I download the updates only one time?</h2>
+
+<p>
+If you have more than one Debian machine on your network, it is useful to use
+<code>apt-proxy</code> to keep all of your Debian systems up-to-date.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<code>apt-proxy</code> reduces the bandwidth requirements of Debian mirrors by
+restricting the frequency of Packages, Releases and Sources file updates from
+the back end and only doing a single fetch for any file, independently of the
+actual request it from the proxy. <code>apt-proxy</code> automatically builds
+a Debian HTTP mirror based on requests which pass through the proxy.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+For more details, see the apt-proxy homepage at <code><a
+href="http://apt-proxy.sourceforge.net/">http://apt-proxy.sourceforge.net/</a></code>
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Of course, you can get the same benefit if you are already using a standard
+caching proxy and all your systems are configured to use it.
+</p>
+
+<hr>
+
+<p>
+[ <a href="ch-pkgtools.en.html">previous</a> ]
+[ <a href="index.en.html#contents">Contents</a> ]
+[ <a href="ch-basic_defs.en.html">1</a> ]
+[ <a href="ch-getting.en.html">2</a> ]
+[ <a href="ch-choosing.en.html">3</a> ]
+[ <a href="ch-compat.en.html">4</a> ]
+[ <a href="ch-software.en.html">5</a> ]
+[ <a href="ch-ftparchives.en.html">6</a> ]
+[ <a href="ch-pkg_basics.en.html">7</a> ]
+[ <a href="ch-pkgtools.en.html">8</a> ]
+[ 9 ]
+[ <a href="ch-kernel.en.html">10</a> ]
+[ <a href="ch-customizing.en.html">11</a> ]
+[ <a href="ch-support.en.html">12</a> ]
+[ <a href="ch-contributing.en.html">13</a> ]
+[ <a href="ch-redistrib.en.html">14</a> ]
+[ <a href="ch-nexttime.en.html">15</a> ]
+[ <a href="ch-faqinfo.en.html">16</a> ]
+[ <a href="ch-kernel.en.html">next</a> ]
+</p>
+
+<hr>
+
+<p>
+The Debian GNU/Linux FAQ
+</p>
+
+<address>
+version 4.0.3, 6 August 2008<br>
+<br>
+Authors are listed at <a href="ch-faqinfo.en.html#s-authors">Debian FAQ Authors</a><br>
+<br>
+</address>
+<hr>
+
+</body>
+
+</html>
+