Linux 101 stuff. Questions are encouraged, noobs are welcome! @lemmy.world Ephera @lemmy.ml 3 mo. ago

Full documentation for APT?

Hi, I just read online that you can apparently run apt --fix-broken install.

I wanted to know, what that really does, but both apt --help and man apt only show a high-level summary of the subcommands and flags. The --fix-broken flag is never mentioned, and presumably many others neither.

Is there some way to access documentation for all subcommands and flags?

3 comments

Check the man page for apt-get(8) instead
- Hmm, yeah, that does document the --fix-broken flag.
  
  Is there any logic to it? Like, do e.g. all apt install commands correspond to apt-get install and e.g. all apt search commands to apt-cache search and one can assume those to understand the same flags with the same usage?
  
  I guess, I could always just try to figure out where the given flag is defined and then use apt-get, apt-cache etc. directly, just to be sure that the usage is as documented...
  
  In the past there were mutliple tools: apt-cache (searching packages), apt-get (managing packages), apt-file (searching for files belonging to packages), apt-key (managing repository keys)...
  
  A few years ago some developers created apt to combine these multiple tools into the single program called apt. Both tools (the old apt-... and the new apt) use dpkg in the backend to install and remove packages. Looks like apt hasn't done its documentation homework.