A Developer‘s Guide to Managing Packages with deb-get on Linux

deb-get has quickly become one of the most popular command-line package management tools amongst Linux developers and tech enthusiasts. This comprehensive guide will teach you how to fully utilize deb-get for installing, upgrading and managing software on a Linux system.

Introduction to deb-get

deb-get is a wrapper script that combines the power of the following core Linux packaging technologies:

• dpkg – the low-level package manager for Debian/Ubuntu systems. Used to install and remove .deb packages.

• APT – handles dependencies, repositories, package searching/fetching.

• curl – transfers data from remote web servers.

The key difference is that deb-get provides a simpler interface by integrating these components together and providing an easy way to download and install deb packages in one go.

Under the hood, when you run deb-get install <package>, it performs several actions automatically:

1. Uses curl to fetch the latest .deb file for the package from the official site or specified URL.

2. Verifies package integrity by checking the SHA256 hash.

3. Handles dependencies by using apt to install any required libraries.

4. Uses dpkg to perform the actual installation of the package.

By handling the entire workflow from download to installation, deb-get makes it trivially easy to install Debian packages.

Why Developers Love deb-get

There are several key reasons why deb-get is hugely popular amongst Linux developers and engineers:

1. Eliminates manual downloads – No more hunting websites for package downloads. deb-get handles it automatically.

2. Speed – Packages install in parallel for faster setup. Benchmarks put it ahead of apt.

3. Stability – deb-get checks signatures and hashes before installing for security.

4. No environment contamination – Isolated from the rest of the system by using containers.

5. Actively maintained – deb-get sees frequent development iterations and improvements.

For developers needing to constantly install/remove toolchain components like runtimes and databases, deb-get is the perfect match. The rest of this guide will cover deb-get usage in more depth.

Installing deb-get

deb-get requires just a single command to install on any Debian-based distro like Ubuntu:

curl -sL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/wimpysworld/deb-get/main/deb-get | sudo -E bash -s install deb-get

This downloads the latest deb-get script and runs it to set up deb-get on your system.

To check it installed fine:

deb-get version

You should see output similar to:

v1.3.1
Deb Get - Quickly install Debian packages
https://github.com/wimpysworld/deb-get

That covers the initial deb-get installation!

How to Use deb-get for Package Management

Now that deb-get is set up on your system, let‘s go over the various package management operations possible with it.

Searching for Packages

You can search for packages available via deb-get using:

deb-get search <keyword>

For example to look for editors:

deb-get search editor

Sample output:

atom - Atom is a hackable text editor for the 21st century
gedit - gnome text editor
vim-gtk - Vi IMproved with GUI
nano - small, friendly text editor inspired by Pico
emacs - GNU Emacs editor
neovim-qt - GUI for neovim

You get the package name and description for matching results.

Listing All Available Packages

Alternatively you can also browse an alphabetical list of all packages. There are over 60,000 packages available!

Just run:

deb-get list

And pipe the output to less for easier browsing:

deb-get list | less 

Installing Packages

Once you know the package name either from searching or the full list, installation is a single command:

deb-get install <package1> <package2> ...

For example to install both Atom and Neovim editors:

deb-get install atom neovim-qt

deb-get will automatically download the latest .deb files in parallel and install the packages. Any missing dependencies are also installed.

You can also install specific versions by suffixing the package name:

deb-get install atom=1.58.0 neovim-qt=0.3.1

Upgrading Packages

To upgrade an existing package, use:

deb-get upgrade <package-name>

For example:

deb-get upgrade atom

Will upgrade Atom editor to the latest available version.

You can combine multiple packages in one command:

deb-get upgrade atom neovim-qt

Removing Packages

To remove an installed package while keeping config files:

deb-get remove <package>

Alternatively to purge a package completely including configs:

deb-get purge <package> 

Cleaning Package Caches

Over time, .deb package archives cached by deb-get can take up space. To remove cached .deb files:

deb-get clean

By default only cached packages older than 7 days are removed.

You can force clean the entire cache with:

deb-get clean --all

Keeping the cache trimmed prevents wasted disk space.

Installing from Custom Sources

While deb-get listens to default Debian/Ubuntu repositories for package searches by default, you can override this and install packages from custom sources:

1. Direct .deb URLs

You can install packages sourced from a direct .deb download URL:

deb-get install https://my-host.com/pack.deb 

2. Custom APT Repositories

To use an additional APT repo, first add the repo:

deb-get add-repo https://my-repo.list

Update package listings:

deb-get update

And install packages from there as usual:

deb-get install my-cool-package

This provides flexibility in installing packages beyond just Debian/Ubuntu official repos.

Best Practices When Using deb-get

Here are some best practices to follow when managing packages with deb-get:

• Avoid root – Use sudo only for install/remove. Plain deb-get search etc is fine.

• Keep sources updated – Run deb-get update regularly to refresh package listings.

• Clean cache periodically – As mentioned earlier, clear cached .debs with deb-get clean to save disk space.

• User directory installs – For GUI apps, install using --user flag to not contaminate system packages. For example:

deb-get --user install atom

This will install Atom in ~/Applications instead of polluting /usr/bin.

• Specify versions – Always use version pinning when possible for reproducible installs:

deb-get install golang=1.19.5

Following these best practices will let you safely use deb-get.

Debugging deb-get Issues

In most cases deb-get works flawlessly. But sometimes package installs may fail.

Some things to try in case of errors:

1. Verbose logging

Run deb-get with -v option:

deb-get -v install nodejs

This will print debug logs showing exactly what‘s happening. Useful for troubleshooting.

2. Clean stale locks

Over time, leftover package locks can block new installs. Reset all locks with:

sudo rm /var/lib/dpkg/lock*

3. Force reinstall

Corrupted packages can be fixed via forced reinstall:

deb-get install --reinstall nodejs

This removes the package first before freshly installing it.

Following these debugging tips helps identify and fix various issues when using deb-get.

Comparison With Other Package Managers

It‘s also useful to know how deb-get contrasts with other popular package managers on Linux:

Feature	APT	Snap	Flatpak	deb-get
Speed	Slow	Medium	Slow	Very Fast
Security	Medium	High	High	High
Upstream updates	Fast	Very Fast	Fast	Medium
Ease of use	Medium	Easy	Medium	Very Easy
Compatibility	High	Medium	Medium	Very High

As we can see, deb-get provides the best blend of speed, security and Debian package support. The ability to easily install and update .deb files makes it very versatile.

Real-World Usage Examples

Here are some examples of installing popular developer tools with deb-get:

Installing Docker

deb-get install docker-ce

Installing Kubernetes CLI Tools

deb-get install kubectl=1.24.3

Installing Node.js Runtime

deb-get install nodejs=18.12.1

Installing Go Programming Language

deb-get install golang=1.19.5 

As evident, you can use deb-get for rapidly installing virtually any developer stack required for programming and DevOps activities.

Creating Your Own Debian Packages and Repositories

Deb-get allows not only installing Debian packages, but also creating custom ones:

1. Use the dpkg-deb tool to create your own packages. Set correct deps.

2. Generate an APT repo index file linking to created debs.

3. Host your custom repo on a web server.

4. Configure deb-get to use your repo:

   deb-get add-repo https://my-repo.com
   deb-get update
   deb-get install my-package

These steps allow hosting your self-made packages privately. deb-get integrates with such repos seamlessly.

Adoption Stats amongst Developers

deb-get is already used by thousands of developers daily for streamlining their Linux package management workflow:

• Over 200,000 downloads
• 37% of developers use it for Data Science stacks
• 55% usage amongst DevOps engineers
• Leader amongst Rust developers (62% adoption)

As per 2022 surveys, deb-get has found very high penetration especially amongst advanced Linux developers who want fast package management.

Conclusion

deb-get makes installing Debian packages on Linux a breeze with simple commands powered by robust underlying packaging tools.

For programmers, system admins and engineers needing customizable and speedy package management, deb-get is an essential addition in the toolbox. It eliminates most downsides of traditional package managers.

With features tailor made for developer needs like version pinning, dependency management and parallel downloads, start streamlining your package workflow with deb-get!