Debian how many packages

Tutorials found on blogs, forums and other sites often include instructions that will break your system in subtle ways. Don't simply follow the first advice you find, or the tutorial that seems the easiest. Spend some time reading the documentation and compare the difference between tutorials.

It's better to take the time to figure out the correct way to do something first than spending even more time fixing a broken system later.

You would not let some random stranger feed your baby; do not execute commands without first understanding what they do. Blog and forum posts don't expire.

Instructions that might have been safe a couple of years ago might not be safe to follow any more. When in doubt keep researching and read your version's documentation. Read The Fantastic Manuals Often reading a tutorial is only enough to get a general idea of how to install or use an application.

Almost all of the software packaged for Debian has at least some documentation available. The man command for reading the manual pages for commands you don't understand.

Debian file with information about differences from the upstream version of the software along with additional documentation. Don't blindly remove software Sometimes when you remove a package, the package manager needs to remove other packages too. This is because the additional packages depend on the package you're trying to remove.

If this happens, the package manager will show you a list everything that will be removed and ask for your confirmation. Make sure to read this list carefully! If you don't know what some of the packages to be removed are for, read the descriptions for each one. When in doubt, do more research. Sometimes software will have different packages available in the Debian repository, with each package configured a different way.

Read the package descriptions and search for similar package names to make sure you get the one that you want. This point can be especially important for packages that install kernel modules. Take notes It's easy to forget the steps you took to do something on your computer, especially several months later when you're trying to upgrade.

Sometimes when you try several different ways of solving a problem, it's easy to forget which method was successful the next day! It's a very good idea to take notes about the software you've installed and configuration changes you've made. When editing configuration files, it's also a very good idea to include comments in the file explaining the reason for the changes and the date they were made. Some safer ways to install software not available in Debian Stable Sometimes the need arises for installing software that is not packaged for Debian, or a newer version than is packaged for the stable release.

Below are some ways to reduce the risks described above. Backported packages Newer versions of packages can often be found in the Debian Backports archive.

These packages are not tested as extensively as packages including in a Debian stable release and should be installed in moderation. More experienced users can make their own backports of the latest Debian software. When self-backporting fails it indicates that installing the software manually with make install or an installer script for example could compromise your Debian system. Also on IRC the judd bot provides the checkbackport command to provide some guidance as to whether backporting is possible by querying the UltimateDebianDatabase.

Building from source If you are building software from source obtained otherwise than from Debian, it's a good idea to build and run it as a normal user, within that user's home directory.

If you keep sensitive, valuable, or non-replaceable data in your home directory, it might be a good idea to create another user account for this purpose.

It is almost always possible to instead install into your home directory instead. This area contains the most recent packages in Debian. Once a package has met our criterion for stability and quality of packaging, it will be included in testing. Packages in unstable are the least tested and may contain problems severe enough to affect the stability of your system. Only experienced users should consider using this distribution.

See the unstable distribution pages for more information. This search engine allows you to search the contents of Debian distributions for any files or just parts of file names that are part of packages. You can also get a full list of files in a given package.

To report a problem with the web site, please e-mail our publicly archived mailing list debian-www lists. For other contact information, see the Debian contact page. Web site source code is available. Stack Overflow for Teams — Collaborate and share knowledge with a private group.

Create a free Team What is Teams? Collectives on Stack Overflow. Learn more. Many packages that should be available in Debian are not Ask Question. Asked 7 years, 6 months ago. Active 7 years, 6 months ago.

Viewed times. Improve this question. Have you updated you package cache apt-get update? Freud Chicken, yes I updated and upgraded. Add a comment. Active Oldest Votes. If a package is available on repository, then it should be available to you too.