Lesson 28 of 29 ↓
- 1.Rhel 9 Administration Guide
- 2.Ubuntu Boot Process Guide
- 3.Linux Basic Commands Guide
- 4.Comprehensive Unix Shells Guide
- 5.Mastering Vim Deep & Practical Guide
- 6.Magic Numbers in Linux Deep Systems Guide
- 7.Wildcards & Globbing in Linux Deep Cli Guide
- 8.Linux Users & Groups Deep Administration Guide
- 9.Journaling in Linux Filesystems Deep Systems Guide
- 10.Getopt & Getoptlong Deep System-level Option Parsing Guide
- 11.Su Command in Linux Complete Guide with Environment Variables
- 12.Linux File Permissions and Ownership Complete Practical Guide
- 13.Ubuntu Package Management Apt Complete Guide
- 14.Bash Scripting Basics
- 15.Linux File System Essentials
- 16.Process and Thread Management
- 17.Session 10 : Introduction to Networking & the Application Layer
- 18.Linux Networking Cli & Introduction to Yocto for Machine Routing
- 19.Comprehensive Guide to Ssh (secure Shell)
- 20.Logical Volume Management (lvm) Guide
- 21.C Build Process & Libraries Guide
- 22.Archiving and Compression in Linux
- 23.Linux Package Managers: a Detailed Guide
- 24.Misra-c Guidelines Detailed Cheat Sheet
- 25.Mqtt Server Setup (pc as Server)
- 26.Detailed Explanation of Tty and Pts in Linux
- 27.Vim Cheat Sheet
- 28.Difference Between apt and apt-get
- 29.Difference Between apt Upgrade and apt Full-upgrade
2 min read
Difference Between apt and apt-get
The commands apt and apt-get are both package management tools used in Debian-based systems such as Ubuntu. While they serve similar purposes, there are important differences in functionality, design, and intended use.
Overview
apt-get
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Introduced first (older tool).
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Designed for scripting and backward compatibility.
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Provides low-level package management operations.
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Outputs more technical and verbose information.
apt
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Introduced later (Ubuntu 16.04+).
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Designed for interactive use by end users.
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Combines common functions of
apt-getandapt-cache. -
Provides cleaner, more user-friendly output.
Output and User Experience
apt-get
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Traditional, verbose output.
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Less readable for everyday users.
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Better suited for automation and scripts.
apt
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Clean, simplified output.
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Shows progress bars.
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Displays additional useful information (e.g., package size, number of upgrades).
Command Differences
common Operations
Both support installing, upgrading, and removing packages, but syntax differs slightly.
| Operation | apt |
apt-get |
|---|---|---|
| Update package list | apt update |
apt-get update |
| Upgrade installed packages | apt upgrade |
apt-get upgrade |
| Full system upgrade | apt full-upgrade |
apt-get dist-upgrade |
| Install package | apt install pkg |
apt-get install pkg |
| Remove package | apt remove pkg |
apt-get remove pkg |
| Search package | apt search pkg |
apt-cache search pkg |
| Show package info | apt show pkg |
apt-cache show pkg |
apt merges features from both apt-get and apt-cache.
Recommended Use
use apt When:
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You are working interactively.
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You want human-friendly output.
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You want access to the combined functionality of
apt-get+apt-cache.
use apt-get When:
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Writing scripts (because it is stable and backward-compatible).
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You need advanced flags not available in
apt. -
You require exact, predictable output.
Summary
| Feature | apt |
apt-get |
|---|---|---|
| Intended for | Interactive use | Scripting & backend tools |
| Output style | Clean, readable, progress bars | Verbose, traditional |
| Combines apt-cache? | ✅ Yes | ❌ No |
| Stability | Good | Very stable (preferred for automation) |
| Introduced | Newer (Ubuntu 16.04+) | Older, long-standing |
Final Notes
-
aptis essentially a front-end wrapper aroundapt-getandapt-cache. -
Both tools still exist, and neither is being removed.
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For everyday use: use
apt. -
For scripting and automation: use
apt-get.
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