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OS Package Management Systems

Operating system package managers handle the installation, upgrade, and removal of system-level software. Each Linux distribution typically maintains its own package manager with its own package format and repository infrastructure.

Package Formats and Managers

Different distributions use different package formats:

Distribution Package Format Manager
Debian/Ubuntu .deb apt, dpkg
RHEL/Fedora .rpm dnf, yum
openSUSE .rpm zypper
Arch Linux .pkg.tar.zst pacman
Alpine .apk apk
Gentoo Source (ebuilds) emerge
macOS Various brew, MacPorts
NixOS .nix nix-env, nix

APT (Debian/Ubuntu)

APT (Advanced Package Tool) manages .deb packages. It resolves dependencies automatically and maintains a local cache of package metadata.

Common operations:

apt update                 # Update package lists
apt upgrade                # Upgrade installed packages
apt install vim            # Install a package
apt remove vim             # Remove a package
apt autoremove             # Remove unused dependencies
apt search webserver       # Search packages
apt list --installed       # List installed packages

DNF (Fedora/RHEL)

DNF (Dandified YUM) manages .rpm packages on Fedora and RHEL-based systems. It replaced the older yum tool.

dnf update                 # Update all packages
dnf install vim            # Install a package
dnf remove vim             # Remove a package
dnf search webserver       # Search packages
dnf info vim               # Show package details
dnf list installed         # List installed packages

Zypper (openSUSE)

Zypper is the command-line package manager for openSUSE and SUSE Linux Enterprise.

zypper refresh             # Refresh repositories
zypper update              # Update packages
zypper install vim         # Install a package
zypper remove vim          # Remove a package
zypper search vim          # Search packages

Pacman (Arch)

Pacman manages binary packages for Arch Linux. It uses a simple package format and rolling release model.

pacman -Sy                 # Sync package databases
pacman -S vim              # Install a package
pacman -R vim              # Remove a package
pacman -Syu                # Full system upgrade
pacman -Ss webserver       # Search packages
pacman -Qe                 # List explicitly installed packages

Homebrew (macOS/Linux)

Homebrew ("brew") is a popular package manager for macOS, also available on Linux. It installs packages to their own prefix (/usr/local on macOS, /home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew on Linux).

brew update                # Update formulae
brew install vim           # Install a package
brew uninstall vim         # Remove a package
brew upgrade               # Upgrade outdated packages
brew search vim            # Search formulae
brew list                  # List installed packages

Nix-env (Nix)

The Nix package manager uses a purely functional model. Packages are stored in immutable /nix/store paths, enabling atomic upgrades and rollbacks.

nix-channel --update        # Update channels
nix-env -i vim             # Install a package
nix-env -e vim             # Uninstall a package
nix-env --upgrade          # Upgrade packages
nix search nixpkgs vim     # Search packages
nix-collect-garbage -d     # Remove unused packages

Opkg (OpenWrt/Embedded)

Opkg is a lightweight package manager for embedded systems, derived from ipkg. It is the default package manager for OpenWrt.

opkg update                 # Update package lists
opkg install vim            # Install a package
opkg remove vim             # Remove a package
opkg list-installed         # List installed packages