Synaptic (software)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
This article does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (September 2009) |
 |
|
|---|---|
 A screenshot of Synaptic |
|
| Developer(s) | Alfredo Kojima, Gustavo Niemeyer and Michael Vogt |
| Stable release | 0.62 / 2008-04-06 |
| Operating system | Debian and other distributions using APT |
| Type | Package manager |
| License | GNU GPL |
| Website | www.nongnu.org/synaptic |
Synaptic is a computer program which is a GTK+ graphical user interface front-end to the Advanced Packaging Tool for the Debian package management system. Synaptic is usually used on systems based on deb packages but can also be used on systems based on RPM packages. It can be used to install, remove and upgrade software packages and to add repositories.
Contents |
[edit] Features
- Install, remove, upgrade and downgrade single and multiple packages
- System-wide upgrade
- Package search utility
- Manage package repositories
- Find packages by name, description and several other attributes
- Select packages by status, section, name or a custom filter
- Sort packages by name, status, size or version
- Browse available online documentation related to a package
- Download the latest changelog of a package
- Lock packages to the current version
- Force the installation of a specific package version
- Undo/Redo of selections
- Built-in terminal emulator for the package manager
It also has the following features for Debian and Ubuntu only:
- Configure packages through the debconf system
- Xapian-based fast search
- Get screenshots from screenshots.debian.net
[edit] Usage
The package manager enables the user to install, to upgrade or to remove software packages. To install a package the user must search for the program he wants and mark it for installation. Changes are not applied instantly, the user must first mark all changes and then apply them.
[edit] History
Synaptic development was funded by Conectiva, which asked Alfredo Kojima, then an employee, to write a graphical frontend for APT, continuing the work initiated with the creation of the APT RPM backend, apt-rpm. Eventually Synaptic became used in Conectiva's install process. Gustavo Niemeyer also worked on it, while working for Conectiva. It is now maintained by Michael Vogt.
[edit] Future replacement
Synaptic and other utilities are scheduled to be replaced by Ubuntu Software Center in Ubuntu 10.04.[1]
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
[edit] References
- ^ Canonical Ltd (September 2009). "SoftwareCenter". https://wiki.ubuntu.com/SoftwareCenter. Retrieved 2009-10-01.
 |
This Linux-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
