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| dpkg | |
|---|---|
| Original author | Ian Murdock |
| Developer | TheDebian Project |
| Initial release | January 1994; 32 years ago (1994-01)[1] |
| Stable release | |
| Preview release | |
| Written in | C,C++,Perl[4] |
| Operating system | Unix-like |
| Available in | 42 languages[5] |
| Type | Package manager |
| License | GPLv2 |
| Website | www |
| Repository | |
dpkg is thesoftware at the base of the package management system in thefree operating systemDebian and its manyderivatives.dpkg is used to install, remove, and provide information about.debpackages.
dpkg (Debian Package) itself is a low-level tool. Advanced Package Tool (APT), a higher-level tool, is more commonly used thandpkg as it can fetch packages from remote locations and deal with complex package relations, such as dependency resolution. Frontends for APT, likeaptitude (ncurses) andsynaptic (GTK), are used for their friendlier interfaces.
The Debian packagedpkg provides thedpkg program, and several other programs needed forruntime functioning of the packaging system, includingdpkg-deb,dpkg-split,dpkg-query,dpkg-statoverride,dpkg-divert anddpkg-trigger.[6] It also includes the programs such asupdate-alternatives andstart-stop-daemon. The Debian package "dpkg-dev" includes the many build tools described below.
The first attempt at a package management system for Linux was possibly the development of StopAlop by Greg Wettstein at the Roger Maris Cancer Center in Fargo, North Dakota. It provided inspiration to create dpkg.[7][8][9]dpkg was originally created byIan Murdock in January 1994 as aShell script.[1]Matt Welsh, Carl Streeter andIan Murdock then rewrote it inPerl,[10] and then later the main part was rewritten inC byIan Jackson in 1994.[11][12] The namedpkg was originally a shortening ofDebian package, but the meaning of that phrase has evolved significantly, as dpkg the software is orthogonal to thedeb package format and the Debian Policy Manual which defines how Debian packages behave in Debian.
dpkg-dev contains a series of development tools needed to unpack, build, and upload Debiansource code packages.[13] These include:
The dpkg source package also containsdselect, a frontend software.[14]
Theinstall-info program used to be included in the dpkg software package, but was later removed[15] as it became developed and distributed separately, as part ofGNU Texinfo.[16]
wpkg was created as a dpkg look-alike that would run under theMicrosoft Windows operating system.[17] It retained.deb file format compatibility.[18] It subsequently evolved to include functionality similar to parts of theAPT suite, improved repository management, distribution management and was ported toLinux andUnix-like systems.[19][20] As of March 2024[update], the most recent release of the software was in 2015.[19]
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