Once the list of available packages is updated you can see what new
packages have recently been added to Debian with the command:
Note that after the first time you use update all packages
will be considered new! But after the next update the new
packages are those that were not in the available list from the
previous update.
Some (and often many) of the packages that you already have installed
on your Debian system may have been upgraded in the archive since the
last time you performed an update. The following command
will list these packages:
Both of these commands can take an optional argument,
install, which will install the new packages or the new
upgrades. This is particularly useful for an upgrade where you just
want to upgrade those newly upgraded packages, rather than the whole
lot waiting to be upgraded.
For a complete list of the packages you have installed but for which
there are newer versions available on the archive use:
To check the version of any installed package and also the version
available from the archive previously (i.e., the last time, but one,
you performed an upgrade) and now (based on the last time
you performed an update), and to also see the so called
Desired and Status flags of the package, use:
$ wajig status <package names> (similar to dpkg -l)
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Without a list of package names all installed packages will be listed.
A variation is to list the status of all packages with a given string
in their name:
$ wajig status-search <string>
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To check for a particular package for which you might guess at part of
its name you can use:
$ wajig listnames <string> (apt-cache pkgnames)
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Without the string argument all known package names will be listed.
If you just want those packages with a name starting with r-,
for example, then you can limit the search to just those packages:
$ wajig listnams ^r-
r-base
r-base-core
r-base-dev
r-base-html
r-base-latex
[...]
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To list the names and current install status of all installed packages
then use:
You can also list just the names of the packages installed with:
And if you are looking for a particular installed package with a name
containing a particular string then use:
$ wajig list-installed <string>
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To generate a list of packages, with version numbers, which you might
save to file, and then restore a system to just this list of packages
at a later stage, use:
$ wajig snapshot > snapshop-12dec04
$ wajig restore snapshop-12dec04
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Each package installs some collection of files in different places on
your system (e.g., in /usr/bin/, /usr/man/man1/ and
usr/doc/). Sometimes you like to see where those files go or
even just view the list of files installed. The command to use is:
$ wajig listfiles <package name> (dpkg --listfiles )
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To list a one line dscription for a package use:
$ wajig whatis <package name>
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And to find which package supplies a given file use:
$ wajig whichpkg <file path>
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and for a command:
$ wajig whichpkg $(which -p most)
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For unofficial packages (i.e., you came across a package but it doesn't
seem to be in Debian yet) search for a site with:
$ wajig search-pkg <package-name>
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The more detailed description of a package is available with:
$ wajig detail <package-name>
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Here, the package name can be replaced with a specific
deb file.
The latest version of the appropriate change
log file (i.e., the latest news) can be retrieved with:
$ wajig news <package names>
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or else obtain the complete changelog with:
$ wajig changelog <package names>
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