Comparison with other distros: Difference between revisions

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== Introduction ==
Alpine Linux has some similarities and differences with other distributions. This page helps new Alpine Linux users from other other distributions to quickly come up speed.
Even if Alpine is designed to run from ram, it has some similarities in package management with both Gentoo and Debian. This page is supposed to show those differences and help Debian and Gentoo users to use Alpine.


The page was originally copied from: http://gentoo-wiki.com/TIP_Converting_from_or_to_Debian
= Package management =
Package manager for alpine is [[Alpine_Package_Keeper|Alpine Package Keeper]].  This section compares how apk is used, in comparison to other tools from Debian,Fedora,Arch and Void.


==Package management==
The following package managers from popular Linux distributions are used for comparison in this section:
Where Gentoo has portage and emerge and Debian has, among others, apt, Alpine uses apk-tools. This compares how you use apk-tools in comparation to apt-get/aptitude and emerge.


Note that Gentoo is source based, just like ports in FreeBSD is while Debian uses pre-compiled binaries. Alpine is compiled using Gentoo portage but Alpine itself uses its own apk-tools binary package that are more similar FreeBSD's binary packages.
* Alpine ([https://wiki.alpinelinux.org/wiki/Alpine_Linux_package_management apk])
* Arch  ([https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Pacman pacman])
* Gentoo ([https://www.gentoo.org/doc/en/handbook/handbook-x86.xml?part=2&chap=1 emerge])
* Debian/Ubuntu ([https://wiki.debian.org/AptCLI apt])
* Fedora/RHEL ([https://rpm-software-management.github.io/ DNF])
* Void ([https://docs.voidlinux.org/xbps/index.html?highlight=xb#xbps-package-manager XBPS])


===Updating package database===
== Comparison chart/Rosetta Stone ==
Gentoo will update the build-from-source scripts and are the updating of the database is takes much more time that updating the database for Debian or Alpine.
 
This chart shows how some standard things are done in Alpine compared to other distributions. 
 
{| cellpadding="5" border="1" class="wikitable"
|-
! Action
! Alpine
! Arch
! Gentoo
! Debian/Ubuntu
! Fedora
! VoidLinux
|-
| [[#Updating package database|Update package database]]
| {{Cmd|apk update}}
| {{Cmd|pacman -Sy}}
| {{Cmd|emerge --sync}}
| {{Cmd|apt update}}
| {{Cmd|dnf update}}
| {{Cmd|xbps-install -S}}
|-
| [[#Showing available updates|Showing available updates]]
| {{Cmd|apk version -l '<'}}
| {{Cmd|pacman -Qu}}
| {{Cmd|emerge --deep --update --pretend @world}}
| {{Cmd|apt upgrade --simulate}}
| {{Cmd|dnf list updates}}
| {{Cmd|xbps-install -n -u}}
|-
| [[#Installing packages|Installing packages]]
| {{Cmd|apk add [package name]}}
| {{Cmd|pacman -S [package name]}}
| {{Cmd|emerge [package name]}}
| {{Cmd|apt install [package name]}}
| {{Cmd|dnf install [package name]}}
| {{Cmd|xbps-install [package name]}}
|-
| Update all installed packages
| {{Cmd|apk upgrade -U -a}}
| {{Cmd|pacman -Su}}
| {{Cmd|emerge --update --deep @world}}
| {{Cmd|apt upgrade}}
| {{Cmd|dnf update}}
| {{Cmd|xbps-install -u}}
|-
| [[#Searching the package database|Searching package database]]
| {{Cmd|apk search -v '[string]*'}}
| {{Cmd|pacman -Ss [string]}}
| {{Cmd|emerge --search [string]}}
| {{Cmd|apt search [string]}}
| {{Cmd|dnf search [string]}}
| {{Cmd|xbps-query -Rs [string]}}
|-
| [[#Removing packages|Removing packages]]
| {{Cmd|apk del [package name]}}
| {{Cmd|pacman -R [package name]}}
| {{Cmd|emerge --depclean [package name]}}
| {{Cmd|apt remove [package name]}}
| {{Cmd|dnf remove [package name]}}
| {{Cmd|xbps-remove [package name]}}
|}
 
 
== Updating package database ==
Gentoo will update the build-from-source scripts and the updating of the database takes much more time than updating the database for Debian or Alpine.


'''Alpine'''
'''Alpine'''
apk_fetch -u
{{Cmd|apk update}}


'''Gentoo'''
'''Arch'''
emerge --sync
{{Cmd|pacman -Sy}}


'''Debian'''
'''Debian'''
aptitude update
{{Cmd|apt update}}


===Showing available updates===
'''Gentoo'''
Show what packages that have an update available:
{{Cmd|emerge --sync}}
 
== Showing available updates ==
Show which packages have an update available:


'''Alpine'''
'''Alpine'''
apk_version -v
{{Cmd|apk version -v}}
or:
or:
apk_version -v -l '<'
{{Cmd|apk version -v -l '<'}}


'''Gentoo'''
'''Gentoo'''
emerge --deep --update --pretend world
{{Cmd|emerge --deep --update --pretend @world}}


'''Debian'''
'''Debian'''
aptitude upgrade --simulate
{{Cmd|apt list --upgradable}}


===Update a particular package===
=== Updating a particular package ===
'''Alpine'''
'''Alpine'''
apk_add -u package1 package2
{{Cmd|apk add -u package1 package2}}
or
{{Cmd|apk upgrade package1 package2}}
'''Debian'''
'''Debian'''
aptitude install package1 package2
{{Cmd|apt install package1 package2}}
'''Gentoo'''
'''Gentoo'''
emerge --update package1 package2
{{Cmd|emerge --update package1 package2}}


===Installing packages===
== Installing packages ==
'''Alpine'''
'''Alpine'''
apk_add package1 package2
{{Cmd|apk add package1 package2}}
 
For source compile, see the [[Aports tree]] and the [[Abuild and Helpers|abuild]] tool.
 
'''Gentoo'''
'''Gentoo'''
emerge package1 package2
{{Cmd|emerge package1 package2}}
'''Debian'''
'''Debian'''
apt-get install package1 package2
{{Cmd|apt-get install package1 package2}}
Debian source compile:
Debian source compile:
apt-get build-dep package1
{{Cmd|apt-get build-dep package1}}
apt-get source package1
{{Cmd|apt-get source package1}}
(optional: customize the build by modifying the debian/rules makefile)
(optional: customize the build by modifying the debian/rules makefile)
(or set environmental variables like DEB_BUILD_OPTIONS)
(or set environmental variables like DEB_BUILD_OPTIONS)
(note that this will make your bug reports invalid to the maintainer)
(note that this will make your bug reports invalid to the maintainer)
dpkg-buildpackage -rfakeroot -uc -b
{{Cmd|dpkg-buildpackage -rfakeroot -uc -b}}
dpkg -i generatedpackagename
{{Cmd|dpkg -i generatedpackagename}}
Simplified source compile:
Simplified source compile:
apt-get build-dep package1
{{Cmd|apt-get build-dep package1}}
apt-get -b source package1
{{Cmd|apt-get -b source package1}}
(the packages are automatically generated using the -b switch above)
(the packages are automatically generated using the -b switch above)


'''Note:''' This process can be used to backport packages from testing and unstable by simply adding their respective source repositories to sources.list, which is similar to adding ~x86 to package.keywords in Gentoo. This is explored further in "arch and repositories" below.
'''Note:''' This process can be used to backport packages from testing and unstable by simply adding their respective source repositories to sources.list, which is similar to adding ~x86 to package.keywords in Gentoo. This is explored further in the "Architectures and repositories" section below.


=== Reinstall a particular package ===
== Reinstalling particular packages ==
'''Alpine'''
'''Alpine'''
apk_delete package1 && apk_add package2
{{Cmd|apk del package1 package2 && apk add package1 package2}}
or:
or:
apk_add -f package1 package2
{{Cmd|apk fix package1 package2}}
'''Gentoo'''
'''Gentoo'''
emerge --oneshot package1 package2
{{Cmd|emerge --oneshot package1 package2}}
'''Debian'''
'''Debian'''
apt-get install --reinstall package1 package2
{{Cmd|apt-get install --reinstall package1 package2}}


Note: You ''rarely'' need to reinstall a package on Debian
Note: You ''rarely'' need to reinstall a package on Debian


===Searching package database===
== Searching the package database ==
'''Alpine'''
'''Alpine'''


Alpine will only search package names.
Alpine will only search package names.
apk_fetch -lv | grep searchword
{{Cmd|apk search searchword}}


'''Gentoo'''
'''Gentoo'''


To search the package names and descriptions:
To search the package names and descriptions:
emerge --searchdesc searchword
{{Cmd|emerge --searchdesc searchword}}
'''Note:''' On Gentoo, it's actually much better to install and use either the esearch package or the eix package to do a search. You use them like this:
'''Note:''' On Gentoo, it's actually much better to install and use the eix package to do a search. You use them like this:
eix searchword
{{Cmd|eix searchword}}
 
or
 
esearch searchword


'''Debian'''
'''Debian'''


apt-cache search searchword
{{Cmd|apt-cache search searchword}}
Both emerge and apt-cache search support regular expressions.
Both emerge and apt-cache search support regular expressions.


To get the long package information on Debian (searching only in package names):
To get the long package information on Debian (searching only in package names):
apt-cache search --full --names-only searchword
{{Cmd|apt-cache search --full --names-only searchword}}


===Removing packages===
== Removing packages ==
'''Alpine'''
'''Alpine'''


apk_delete package1 package2
{{Cmd|apk del package1 package2}}
To also remove unused dependencies:
''apk del'' will remove configuration files when the ''--purge'' flag is used. Make sure you have backups of your configuration files.
apk_delete -R package1 package2
apk_delete will remove configuration files without asking any questions. Make sure you have backups of your configuration files. (Using rcs might be an idea)


You will mostly like to take a quick look at the dependencies before you remove packages recursively.
You will mostly like to take a quick look at the dependencies before you remove packages recursively.


To see dependencies for a package, use:
To see dependencies for a package, use:
apk_info -R package1 package2
{{Cmd|apk info -R package1 package2}}


To see if package is required by other packages (is a dependency for another packages), use:
To see if package is required by other packages (is a dependency for another packages), use:
apk_info -r package1
{{Cmd|apk info -r package1 package2}}




'''Gentoo'''
'''Gentoo'''
emerge --unmerge package1 package2
 
The correct way to remove packages on gentoo.
{{Cmd|emerge --depclean package1 package2}}
 
In case you know what you're doing, you may skip dependency checks and potentiality leave your system in broken state.
{{Cmd|emerge --unmerge package1 package2}}


'''Debian'''
'''Debian'''
apt-get remove package1 package2
{{Cmd|apt-get remove package1 package2}}
or to remove along with all configuration files
or to remove along with all configuration files
apt-get remove --purge package1 package2
{{Cmd|apt-get remove --purge package1 package2}}


===Only downloading packages===
== Only downloading packages ==
This can be useful e.g. if you're on a dial-up connection and want to download everything first and install later.
This can be useful e.g. if you're on a dial-up connection and want to download everything first and install later.


'''Alpine'''
'''Alpine'''
apk_fetch package1 package2
{{Cmd|apk fetch package1 package2}}
'''Gentoo'''
'''Gentoo'''
emerge --fetchonly package1 package2
{{Cmd|emerge --fetchonly package1 package2}}
'''Debian'''
'''Debian'''
apt-get install --download-only package1 package2
{{Cmd|apt-get install --download-only package1 package2}}


===Cleaning up downloaded packages===
== Cleaning up downloaded packages ==
Compressed packages that were downloaded for installation can easily consume gigs of hdd space.
Compressed packages that were downloaded for installation can easily consume gigabytes of storage space.


'''Alpine'''
'''Alpine'''


Alpine will clean up package automatically unless APK_KEEPCACHE is set to "yes" in /etc/apk.conf. To do it manually if it is set:
Alpine will clean up packages automatically.
rm /var/cache/packages/*


'''Gentoo'''
'''Gentoo'''
rm -rf /usr/portage/distfiles/*
 
The following command will leave ''/var/cache/distfiles/'' folder intact, while deleting all children.
 
{{Cmd|find /var/cache/distfiles/ -mindepth 1 -delete}}
 
To only remove outdated packages you will need to install the gentoolkit package and use eclean:
To only remove outdated packages you will need to install the gentoolkit package and use eclean:
eclean distfiles
{{Cmd|eclean distfiles}}
 
Cleaning temporary files from emerging packages:
Cleaning temporary files from emerging packages:
rm -rf /var/tmp/portage/*
{{Cmd|rm -rf /var/tmp/portage/*}}


'''Debian'''
'''Debian'''
apt-get clean
{{Cmd|apt-get clean}}
Only remove outdated packages:
Only remove outdated packages:
apt-get autoclean
{{Cmd|apt-get autoclean}}


===Reverse dependencies===
==Reverse dependencies==


'''Alpine'''
'''Alpine'''
Line 165: Line 244:
'''Gentoo'''
'''Gentoo'''


Reverse dependencies are a major drawback of '''Gentoo's''' current portage implementation: It does not take care of them at all at the moment.
Recent versions of portage include library tracking and preservation with the preserved-libs feature. Portage will notify you to run {{Cmd|emerge @preserved-rebuild}} to help rebuild binaries that might otherwise become broken.
This means that you can uninstall packages needed by others without being warned about it. E.g. you can remove the x server package without portage warning you that kde (which you have installed as well) depends on it. This way you can actually break your entire system (e.g. by removing glibc).
 
revdep-rebuild
can fix broken dependencies broken by
emerge --depclean


'''Debian'''
'''Debian'''
Line 176: Line 250:
Reverse dependencies are taken care of by dpkg.
Reverse dependencies are taken care of by dpkg.


==Runlevel & Initscripts==
= Runlevel & Initscripts =
Runlevels work pretty conventionally on Debian. On Alpine and Gentoo, they are a bit different.
 
===Directories and files===
== Directories and files ==
In '''Debian''' runlevels are named conventionally (0-6 and S). They are represented by directories in /etc/ called rc*.d (when the default sysv-rc boot loader package is installed; file-rc can be installed instead, and then the relevant file is runlevel.conf).
* /etc/rc0.d
* /etc/rc1.d
* /etc/rcS.d
* /etc/rc2.d
* /etc/rc3.d
* /etc/rc4.d
* /etc/rc5.d
* /etc/rc6.d


In '''Gentoo''', runlevels have the same names, but these are mapped to more self explanatory ones (in /etc/inittab): "boot", "default", "nonetwork", with the option to add more. The directories that represent them are in  
In '''Gentoo''', runlevels have the same names, but these are mapped to more self explanatory ones (in /etc/inittab): "boot", "default", "nonetwork", with the option to add more. The directories that represent them are in  
Line 195: Line 260:
* /etc/runlevels/nonetwork
* /etc/runlevels/nonetwork


In Gentoo, if a service is not explicitly started in a runlevel, it is stopped when switching to that runlevel! There is no explicit stopping of runlevels as in Debian (/etc/rc?.d/K??service).
In '''Gentoo''', if a service is not explicitly started in a runlevel, it is stopped when switching to that runlevel!  


In '''both Debian and Gentoo''', which things are started (and stopped) in which runlevels is controlled by links in the runlevel directories to scripts in /etc/init.d/, e.g.:
In '''Gentoo''', which things are started (and stopped) in which runlevels is controlled by links in the runlevel directories to scripts in /etc/init.d/, e.g.:
gentoo
'''Gentoo'''
  $ ls -l /etc/runlevels/boot/hostname
  $ ls -l /etc/runlevels/boot/hostname
  lrwxrwxrwx  1 root root 20 Mar 25  2004 /etc/runlevels/boot/hostname -> /etc/init.d/hostname
  lrwxrwxrwx  1 root root 20 Mar 25  2004 /etc/runlevels/boot/hostname -> /etc/init.d/hostname


'''Debian'''
'''Alpine'''
$ ls -l rcS.d/S40hostname.sh
 
lrwxrwxrwx  1 root root 21 2004-11-07 00:19 rcS.d/S40hostname.sh -> ../init.d/hostname.sh
In Alpine, runlevels work like they do in Gentoo:


TODO: Alpine
* /etc/runlevels/boot
* /etc/runlevels/default
* /etc/runlevels/sysinit
* /etc/runlevels/nonetwork
* /etc/runlevels/shutdown


===Runlevel management===
== Runlevel management ==
To manage which things to start in which runlevels, use the following commands:
To manage which things to start in which runlevels, use the following commands:


Line 214: Line 283:


To see current status of services in runlevels, do:
To see current status of services in runlevels, do:
rc_status
{{Cmd|rc-status}}
To add sshd to default runlevel, do:
To add sshd to default runlevel, do:
rc_add -k sshd
{{Cmd|rc-update add sshd default}}
The -k option will make sure sshd is stopped when shutting down or reboot.
To remove sshd from all runlevels do:
To remove sshd from all runlevels do:
rc_delete sshd
{{Cmd|rc-update del sshd}}


'''Gentoo'''
'''Gentoo'''


rc-update
{{Cmd|rc-update}}
To add the cupsd to the default runlevel, do:
To add the cupsd to the default runlevel, do:
rc-update add cupsd default
{{Cmd|rc-update add cupsd default}}
To remove alsasound from the boot runlevel, do:
To remove alsasound from the boot runlevel, do:
rc-update del alsasound boot
{{Cmd|rc-update del alsasound boot}}
Also see this wiki page about [http://gentoo-wiki.com/Rc-update gentoo runlevel management with rc-update]
Also see this wiki page about [https://web.archive.org/web/20080707042933/http://gentoo-wiki.com/Rc-update gentoo runlevel management with rc-update]


'''Debian'''
= Config Files =


update-rc.d
== /etc/portage/make.conf and use flags ==
Configure cupsd to be started in runlevels 2, 3, 4, 5, and stopped in 0, 1, 6, with sequence code 20:
While in Gentoo there's a large number of configuration files which control the behaviour of the package management system, there are comparatively fewer in Debian, as there is no need to dictate how to compile software which is downloaded and tweak/alter it. In Gentoo, the file /etc/portage/make.conf is used for much configuration; this includes ''USE'' flags, which influence which elements of packages are compiled, and which libraries to build support for - common USE flags (USE or -USE to specifically negate support) include 'gtk gnome' for Gnome users (and a corresponding -qt -kde -arts) and 'qt kde arts' for KDE users. A Gentoo user's complete set of use flags may look something like this:
update-rc.d cupsd start 20 2 3 4 5 . stop 20 0 1 6 .
or simply:
update-rc.d cupsd defaults
Remove cupsd from all runlevels:
update-rc.d -f cupsd remove


==Config Files==
'''USE="-kde -arts -qt xv truetype bluetooth crypt slang readline gpm berkdb mmx gdbm tcpd pam libwww ssl nls ethereal perl python esd gif imlib sdl oggvorbis mpeg gnome gtk X motif opengl avi png tiff nptl pcmcia nptl ldap eds"'''


===/etc/make.conf and use flags===
== Architectures and repositories ==
While in gentoo there are a large number of configuration files which exist to control the behaviour of the package management system. There are comparatively fewer in Debian, as there is no need to dictate how to compile software which is downloaded and tweak / alter this purpose. In gentoo, the file /etc/make.conf is used for much configuration; this includes ''USE'' flags, which influence which elements of packages are compiled, and which libraries to build support for - common USE flags (USE or -USE to specifically negate support) include 'gtk gnome' for gnome users (and a corresponding -qt -kde -arts) and 'qt kde arts' for kde users. A gentoo user's complete set of use flags may look something like this:


'''USE="-kde -arts -qt xv truetype bluetooth crypt slang readline gpm berkdb mmx gdbm tcpd pam libwww ssl nls ethereal perl python esd gif imlib sdl oggvorbis mpeg gnome gtk X motif opengl avi png tiff nptl pcmcia nptl ldap eds"'''
===arch and repositories===
'''Gentoo'''
'''Gentoo'''


Also in /etc/make.conf is the '''ACCEPT_KEYWORDS''' setting, with (for an X86-based processor) two settings, '''x86''' for stabler packages, and '''~x86''' for bleeding edge packages. It is however not recommended to make this change in /etc/make.conf. Rather configure this per-package in /etc/portage/package.keywords. It's enough to put a line into that file naming the package (for example 'app-foo/bar'). That file might look like this:
Also in /etc/portage/make.conf is the '''ACCEPT_KEYWORDS''' setting, with (for an X86-based processor) two settings, '''x86''' for stabler packages, and '''~x86''' for bleeding edge packages. It is however not recommended to make this change in /etc/portage/make.conf. Rather configure this per-package in /etc/portage/package.accept_keywords. It's enough to put a line into that file naming the package (for example 'app-foo/bar'). That file might look like this:


  app-crypt/gpg-agent
  app-crypt/gpg-agent
Line 263: Line 322:
'''Debian'''
'''Debian'''


Setting this in Debian is slightly more complicated, and is accomplished by setting different 'repositories' in ''/etc/apt/sources.list'' - along with which 'tree' to use for packages; in debian, these are '''stable''', '''testing''', and '''unstable'''. An ''/etc/apt/sources.list'' file for a debian testing user may look something like this:
Setting this in Debian is slightly more complicated, and is accomplished by setting different 'repositories' in ''/etc/apt/sources.list'' - along with which 'tree' to use for packages; in Debian, these are '''stable''', '''testing''', and '''unstable'''. An ''/etc/apt/sources.list'' file for a debian testing user may look something like this:


  deb http://mirrors.kernel.org/debian testing main non-free contrib
  deb <nowiki>https://mirrors.kernel.org/debian</nowiki> testing main non-free contrib
  deb ftp://ftp.nerim.net/debian-marillat testing main
  deb <nowiki>ftp://ftp.nerim.net/debian-marillat</nowiki> testing main
  deb http://security.debian.org testing/updates main contrib non-free
  deb <nowiki>https://security.debian.org</nowiki> testing/updates main contrib non-free


Alternatively, ''/etc/apt/sources.list'' can contain any number of repositories for any trees, and a default tree (this can be overridden using the -t switch on the command line) in ''/etc/apt/apt.conf'':
Alternatively, ''/etc/apt/sources.list'' can contain any number of repositories for any trees, and a default tree (this can be overridden using the -t switch on the command line) in ''/etc/apt/apt.conf'':
Line 275: Line 334:
Per-package settings go in ''/etc/apt/preferences'', somewhat like Gentoo's ''/etc/portage/package.keywords''.
Per-package settings go in ''/etc/apt/preferences'', somewhat like Gentoo's ''/etc/portage/package.keywords''.


===Network===
== Network ==


'''Alpine'''
'''Alpine'''


Alpine uses /etc/network/interfaces, just like Debian. The main reason is because this is the way busybox does it.
Alpine uses /etc/network/interfaces, similar to Debian. Alpine uses busybox's implementation by default.


''/etc/network/interfaces'':
''/etc/network/interfaces'':
Line 296: Line 355:


'''Gentoo'''
'''Gentoo'''
Gentoo uses ''netifrc''.  This packages is also available in the edge community repository.  (Use on Alpine at your own risk.)


''/etc/conf.d/net'':
''/etc/conf.d/net'':
  config_eth0=( "192.168.1.100 netmask 255.255.255.0"
  config_eth0="192.168.1.100 netmask 255.255.255.0
              "192.168.2.100 netmask 255.255.255.0" )
              192.168.2.100 netmask 255.255.255.0"
  routes_eth0=( "default via 192.168.1.1" )
  routes_eth0="default via 192.168.1.1"


Note that this has changed recently. For more information please refer to http://www.gentoo.org/doc/en/handbook/handbook-x86.xml?part=4
Note that this has changed recently. For more information please refer to https://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/Handbook:X86?part=4


'''Debian'''
'''Debian'''
Line 319: Line 380:
   broadcast 192.168.1.255
   broadcast 192.168.1.255
  # etc.
  # etc.
[[Category:Package Manager]]


[[Category:Package Manager]]
== External Reference ==
[https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Pacman/Rosetta Pacman Rosetta].

Latest revision as of 17:06, 14 August 2024

Alpine Linux has some similarities and differences with other distributions. This page helps new Alpine Linux users from other other distributions to quickly come up speed.

Package management

Package manager for alpine is Alpine Package Keeper. This section compares how apk is used, in comparison to other tools from Debian,Fedora,Arch and Void.

The following package managers from popular Linux distributions are used for comparison in this section:

Comparison chart/Rosetta Stone

This chart shows how some standard things are done in Alpine compared to other distributions.

Action Alpine Arch Gentoo Debian/Ubuntu Fedora VoidLinux
Update package database

apk update

pacman -Sy

emerge --sync

apt update

dnf update

xbps-install -S

Showing available updates

apk version -l '<'

pacman -Qu

emerge --deep --update --pretend @world

apt upgrade --simulate

dnf list updates

xbps-install -n -u

Installing packages

apk add [package name]

pacman -S [package name]

emerge [package name]

apt install [package name]

dnf install [package name]

xbps-install [package name]

Update all installed packages

apk upgrade -U -a

pacman -Su

emerge --update --deep @world

apt upgrade

dnf update

xbps-install -u

Searching package database

apk search -v '[string]*'

pacman -Ss [string]

emerge --search [string]

apt search [string]

dnf search [string]

xbps-query -Rs [string]

Removing packages

apk del [package name]

pacman -R [package name]

emerge --depclean [package name]

apt remove [package name]

dnf remove [package name]

xbps-remove [package name]


Updating package database

Gentoo will update the build-from-source scripts and the updating of the database takes much more time than updating the database for Debian or Alpine.

Alpine

apk update

Arch

pacman -Sy

Debian

apt update

Gentoo

emerge --sync

Showing available updates

Show which packages have an update available:

Alpine

apk version -v

or:

apk version -v -l '<'

Gentoo

emerge --deep --update --pretend @world

Debian

apt list --upgradable

Updating a particular package

Alpine

apk add -u package1 package2

or

apk upgrade package1 package2

Debian

apt install package1 package2

Gentoo

emerge --update package1 package2

Installing packages

Alpine

apk add package1 package2

For source compile, see the Aports tree and the abuild tool.

Gentoo

emerge package1 package2

Debian

apt-get install package1 package2

Debian source compile:

apt-get build-dep package1

apt-get source package1

(optional: customize the build by modifying the debian/rules makefile) (or set environmental variables like DEB_BUILD_OPTIONS) (note that this will make your bug reports invalid to the maintainer)

dpkg-buildpackage -rfakeroot -uc -b

dpkg -i generatedpackagename

Simplified source compile:

apt-get build-dep package1

apt-get -b source package1

(the packages are automatically generated using the -b switch above)

Note: This process can be used to backport packages from testing and unstable by simply adding their respective source repositories to sources.list, which is similar to adding ~x86 to package.keywords in Gentoo. This is explored further in the "Architectures and repositories" section below.

Reinstalling particular packages

Alpine

apk del package1 package2 && apk add package1 package2

or:

apk fix package1 package2

Gentoo

emerge --oneshot package1 package2

Debian

apt-get install --reinstall package1 package2

Note: You rarely need to reinstall a package on Debian

Searching the package database

Alpine

Alpine will only search package names.

apk search searchword

Gentoo

To search the package names and descriptions:

emerge --searchdesc searchword

Note: On Gentoo, it's actually much better to install and use the eix package to do a search. You use them like this:

eix searchword

Debian

apt-cache search searchword

Both emerge and apt-cache search support regular expressions.

To get the long package information on Debian (searching only in package names):

apt-cache search --full --names-only searchword

Removing packages

Alpine

apk del package1 package2

apk del will remove configuration files when the --purge flag is used. Make sure you have backups of your configuration files.

You will mostly like to take a quick look at the dependencies before you remove packages recursively.

To see dependencies for a package, use:

apk info -R package1 package2

To see if package is required by other packages (is a dependency for another packages), use:

apk info -r package1 package2


Gentoo

The correct way to remove packages on gentoo.

emerge --depclean package1 package2

In case you know what you're doing, you may skip dependency checks and potentiality leave your system in broken state.

emerge --unmerge package1 package2

Debian

apt-get remove package1 package2

or to remove along with all configuration files

apt-get remove --purge package1 package2

Only downloading packages

This can be useful e.g. if you're on a dial-up connection and want to download everything first and install later.

Alpine

apk fetch package1 package2

Gentoo

emerge --fetchonly package1 package2

Debian

apt-get install --download-only package1 package2

Cleaning up downloaded packages

Compressed packages that were downloaded for installation can easily consume gigabytes of storage space.

Alpine

Alpine will clean up packages automatically.

Gentoo

The following command will leave /var/cache/distfiles/ folder intact, while deleting all children.

find /var/cache/distfiles/ -mindepth 1 -delete

To only remove outdated packages you will need to install the gentoolkit package and use eclean:

eclean distfiles

Cleaning temporary files from emerging packages:

rm -rf /var/tmp/portage/*

Debian

apt-get clean

Only remove outdated packages:

apt-get autoclean

Reverse dependencies

Alpine

apk-tools will take care of reverse dependencies.

Gentoo

Recent versions of portage include library tracking and preservation with the preserved-libs feature. Portage will notify you to run

emerge @preserved-rebuild

to help rebuild binaries that might otherwise become broken.

Debian

Reverse dependencies are taken care of by dpkg.

Runlevel & Initscripts

Directories and files

In Gentoo, runlevels have the same names, but these are mapped to more self explanatory ones (in /etc/inittab): "boot", "default", "nonetwork", with the option to add more. The directories that represent them are in /etc/runlevels/:

  • /etc/runlevels/boot
  • /etc/runlevels/default
  • /etc/runlevels/nonetwork

In Gentoo, if a service is not explicitly started in a runlevel, it is stopped when switching to that runlevel!

In Gentoo, which things are started (and stopped) in which runlevels is controlled by links in the runlevel directories to scripts in /etc/init.d/, e.g.: Gentoo 

$ ls -l /etc/runlevels/boot/hostname
lrwxrwxrwx  1 root root 20 Mar 25  2004 /etc/runlevels/boot/hostname -> /etc/init.d/hostname

Alpine

In Alpine, runlevels work like they do in Gentoo:

  • /etc/runlevels/boot
  • /etc/runlevels/default
  • /etc/runlevels/sysinit
  • /etc/runlevels/nonetwork
  • /etc/runlevels/shutdown

Runlevel management

To manage which things to start in which runlevels, use the following commands:

Alpine

To see current status of services in runlevels, do:

rc-status

To add sshd to default runlevel, do:

rc-update add sshd default

To remove sshd from all runlevels do:

rc-update del sshd

Gentoo

rc-update

To add the cupsd to the default runlevel, do:

rc-update add cupsd default

To remove alsasound from the boot runlevel, do:

rc-update del alsasound boot

Also see this wiki page about gentoo runlevel management with rc-update

Config Files

/etc/portage/make.conf and use flags

While in Gentoo there's a large number of configuration files which control the behaviour of the package management system, there are comparatively fewer in Debian, as there is no need to dictate how to compile software which is downloaded and tweak/alter it. In Gentoo, the file /etc/portage/make.conf is used for much configuration; this includes USE flags, which influence which elements of packages are compiled, and which libraries to build support for - common USE flags (USE or -USE to specifically negate support) include 'gtk gnome' for Gnome users (and a corresponding -qt -kde -arts) and 'qt kde arts' for KDE users. A Gentoo user's complete set of use flags may look something like this:

USE="-kde -arts -qt xv truetype bluetooth crypt slang readline gpm berkdb mmx gdbm tcpd pam libwww ssl nls ethereal perl python esd gif imlib sdl oggvorbis mpeg gnome gtk X motif opengl avi png tiff nptl pcmcia nptl ldap eds"

Architectures and repositories

Gentoo

Also in /etc/portage/make.conf is the ACCEPT_KEYWORDS setting, with (for an X86-based processor) two settings, x86 for stabler packages, and ~x86 for bleeding edge packages. It is however not recommended to make this change in /etc/portage/make.conf. Rather configure this per-package in /etc/portage/package.accept_keywords. It's enough to put a line into that file naming the package (for example 'app-foo/bar'). That file might look like this: 

app-crypt/gpg-agent
app-text/docbook-xsl-stylesheets
=app-text/docbook-xml-dtd-4.3-r1

The last line says, that only version 4.3-r1 should be unmasked. Older and newer versions will still be ignored.

Note for non-x86 users: The keywords x86 and ~x86 can of course be replaced by sparc and ~sparc for example.

Debian

Setting this in Debian is slightly more complicated, and is accomplished by setting different 'repositories' in /etc/apt/sources.list - along with which 'tree' to use for packages; in Debian, these are stable, testing, and unstable. An /etc/apt/sources.list file for a debian testing user may look something like this: 

deb https://mirrors.kernel.org/debian testing main non-free contrib
deb ftp://ftp.nerim.net/debian-marillat testing main
deb https://security.debian.org testing/updates main contrib non-free

Alternatively, /etc/apt/sources.list can contain any number of repositories for any trees, and a default tree (this can be overridden using the -t switch on the command line) in /etc/apt/apt.conf: 

  APT::Default-Release "testing";

Per-package settings go in /etc/apt/preferences, somewhat like Gentoo's /etc/portage/package.keywords.

Network

Alpine

Alpine uses /etc/network/interfaces, similar to Debian. Alpine uses busybox's implementation by default.

/etc/network/interfaces: 

auto eth0
iface eth0 inet static
 address 192.168.0.1
 netmask 255.255.255.0
 broadcast 192.168.0.255
 
auto eth0:0
iface eth0:0 inet static
 address 192.168.1.1
 netmask 255.255.255.0
 broadcast 192.168.1.255
# etc.

Gentoo

Gentoo uses netifrc. This packages is also available in the edge community repository. (Use on Alpine at your own risk.)

/etc/conf.d/net: 

config_eth0="192.168.1.100 netmask 255.255.255.0
             192.168.2.100 netmask 255.255.255.0"
routes_eth0="default via 192.168.1.1"

Note that this has changed recently. For more information please refer to https://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/Handbook:X86?part=4

Debian

/etc/network/interfaces: 

auto eth0
iface eth0 inet static
 address 192.168.0.1
 netmask 255.255.255.0
 broadcast 192.168.0.255
 
auto eth0:0
iface eth0:0 inet static
 address 192.168.1.1
 netmask 255.255.255.0
 broadcast 192.168.1.255
# etc.


External Reference

Pacman Rosetta.

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