The latest version of APT can be downloaded from Softpedia

Jun 16, 2014 13:57 GMT  ·  By

APT (Advanced Package Tool) 1.0.4, a set of core tools inside Debian that makes it possible to install, remove, and keep applications up to date, is now available for download.

Advanced Package Tool was launched back in 1998, and 16 years later it finally reached version 1.0. Its developers have brought it up to version 1.0.4 in just a few months and it looks like the release pace is increasing.

This is one of the most used tools in Debian and in all the distros that have this OS as a base. It's quite powerful and the constant updates have ensured its presence in our lives.

According to the changelog, CacheDB has been implemented for source packages in apt-ftparchive, the color in apt update is now properly reset, the progress in run-tests is now displayed, the version / architecture tags are no longer parsed in a translation-$lang file, upgradeable packages are now shown after an apt update, various errors found in clang -fsanitize=address have been fixed, a number of problems found in clang scan-build have been corrected, and an unauthenticated warning is now shown for source packages as well.

Also, a compatibility mode for old (32-bit FileSize) CacheDB has been added, a less generic description is now used in the apt-helper download, a typo in the request stanza description has been fixed, architecture(s) multi-arch fields have been added to the request stanza, a source field has been added to Package stanzas, and the screen width detection for apt/apt-get lists is now working as it should.

APT spent many years in development, but its makers recently decided to make the switch to the 1.x version. It's worth noting that not many distros haves begun using and it will take a while until it becomes a regular package that can be found anywhere.

The developers have explained that the APT binary now supports the following commands: list (similar to dpkg list), search (like apt-cache search, but displays results alphabetical), show, update (with color output), install, remove, upgrade, full-upgrade, and edit-sources.

A complete list of changes and updates can be found in the official announcement. You can download APT (Advanced Package Tool) 1.0.4 right now from Softpedia, but if you get the source package you won't be able to do much with it.

You can either wait for your distro to finally integrate the new APT or you can choose to compile your own version. Keep in mind that, even if this is a stable release, it hasn't been tested extensively and you might encounter problems.