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Linux Package Management

Installing and updating software: the major package managers, repositories, universal formats like Flatpak and Snap, and building from source when there is no package.

11 articles

How to Upgrade Ubuntu 24.04 LTS to 26.04 LTS Safely A step-by-step guide to upgrading Ubuntu 24.04 to 26.04 on desktops and servers: what to check first, how to handle PPAs and third-party repositories, running the upgrade over SSH, and what to do if it goes wrong. How to Check Whether Your Linux Kernel Is Patched Against a CVE uname -r does not tell you whether a fix is in your kernel, because distributions backport patches without changing the version. How to check a specific CVE on Debian, Ubuntu, Fedora, RHEL, and Arch, and how to confirm you are actually running the fixed kernel. NixOS Explained: A Linux Distro You Configure in One File and Roll Back in One Command NixOS builds your entire system from a declarative configuration, keeps every previous version bootable, and never installs packages into /usr. How the Nix store works, what configuration.nix looks like, what flakes are, and the trade-offs. Rust Coreutils Explained: What uutils Changes on Ubuntu and What Still Differs From GNU Ubuntu now ships uutils, a Rust rewrite of ls, cp, cat and the rest of coreutils, in place of the GNU versions. What changed, why Canonical did it, where the two still behave differently, and how to switch back. Supply Chain Security: Verifying What You Install Your distribution signs packages and your package manager checks them automatically. Everything outside that, curl piped to shell, language registries, container images, has weaker guarantees or none. What each layer actually proves. APT Guide (Debian/Ubuntu) APT is the package manager for Debian, Ubuntu, and their derivatives. This guide covers everything from daily commands through repository management, pinning, held packages, and dpkg for when you need to go lower level. DNF Guide (Fedora/RHEL) DNF is the package manager for Fedora, RHEL, AlmaLinux, and Rocky Linux. This guide covers daily commands, module streams, COPR repositories, version locking, and the rpm layer underneath. Pacman Guide (Arch Linux) Pacman is the package manager for Arch Linux, Manjaro, EndeavourOS, and other Arch-based distributions. This guide covers sync, query, remove, AUR helpers, makepkg, and keeping a rolling-release system healthy. Snap vs Flatpak vs AppImage: Universal Linux Packages Explained Snap, Flatpak, and AppImage each solve the problem of distributing Linux software across distributions, but with very different approaches. Here is how each works, what each is best for, and when to use which. Understanding Linux Packages and Repositories Linux software is distributed as packages, installed from signed repositories, and managed by package managers. This guide explains how the whole system works, from .deb and .rpm files through to Flatpak, Snap, and building from source. Zypper Guide (openSUSE) Zypper is the package manager for openSUSE Leap, openSUSE Tumbleweed, and SUSE Linux Enterprise. This guide covers installation, repository management, patterns, locks, and distribution upgrades.

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