Distinction between apt-cache and dpkg -l












2















I use apt-cache pkgname to retrieve the packages as



me@host:~$ apt-cache pkgnames | wc -l
62803


get 62803 results



but



me@host:~$ dpkg -l | wc -l
2336


What's the reasons which lead such a huge distinction. I presume that dpkg is super than apt.










share|improve this question



























    2















    I use apt-cache pkgname to retrieve the packages as



    me@host:~$ apt-cache pkgnames | wc -l
    62803


    get 62803 results



    but



    me@host:~$ dpkg -l | wc -l
    2336


    What's the reasons which lead such a huge distinction. I presume that dpkg is super than apt.










    share|improve this question

























      2












      2








      2


      1






      I use apt-cache pkgname to retrieve the packages as



      me@host:~$ apt-cache pkgnames | wc -l
      62803


      get 62803 results



      but



      me@host:~$ dpkg -l | wc -l
      2336


      What's the reasons which lead such a huge distinction. I presume that dpkg is super than apt.










      share|improve this question














      I use apt-cache pkgname to retrieve the packages as



      me@host:~$ apt-cache pkgnames | wc -l
      62803


      get 62803 results



      but



      me@host:~$ dpkg -l | wc -l
      2336


      What's the reasons which lead such a huge distinction. I presume that dpkg is super than apt.







      package-management






      share|improve this question













      share|improve this question











      share|improve this question




      share|improve this question










      asked 1 hour ago









      AliceAlice

      443110




      443110






















          1 Answer
          1






          active

          oldest

          votes


















          2














          apt is for managing remote repositories, dpkg - for locally installed packages. They're related. apt is front end to dpkg. When you run apt-get install package it gets .deb file, and installs it via dpkg. So numbers differ because there's a lot of packages available, but only fraction is installed locally on your system.



          apt-cache can show both installed and non-installed packages, because it queries the apt cache - listing of what is available in remote repositories ( that cache is what you get when you do apt-get update). For instance,



          $ apt-cache policy terminator
          terminator:
          Installed: (none)
          Candidate: 1.91-1


          $ dpkg -l terminator
          dpkg-query: no packages found matching terminator





          share|improve this answer

























            Your Answer








            StackExchange.ready(function() {
            var channelOptions = {
            tags: "".split(" "),
            id: "89"
            };
            initTagRenderer("".split(" "), "".split(" "), channelOptions);

            StackExchange.using("externalEditor", function() {
            // Have to fire editor after snippets, if snippets enabled
            if (StackExchange.settings.snippets.snippetsEnabled) {
            StackExchange.using("snippets", function() {
            createEditor();
            });
            }
            else {
            createEditor();
            }
            });

            function createEditor() {
            StackExchange.prepareEditor({
            heartbeatType: 'answer',
            autoActivateHeartbeat: false,
            convertImagesToLinks: true,
            noModals: true,
            showLowRepImageUploadWarning: true,
            reputationToPostImages: 10,
            bindNavPrevention: true,
            postfix: "",
            imageUploader: {
            brandingHtml: "Powered by u003ca class="icon-imgur-white" href="https://imgur.com/"u003eu003c/au003e",
            contentPolicyHtml: "User contributions licensed under u003ca href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/"u003ecc by-sa 3.0 with attribution requiredu003c/au003e u003ca href="https://stackoverflow.com/legal/content-policy"u003e(content policy)u003c/au003e",
            allowUrls: true
            },
            onDemand: true,
            discardSelector: ".discard-answer"
            ,immediatelyShowMarkdownHelp:true
            });


            }
            });














            draft saved

            draft discarded


















            StackExchange.ready(
            function () {
            StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2faskubuntu.com%2fquestions%2f1124914%2fdistinction-between-apt-cache-and-dpkg-l%23new-answer', 'question_page');
            }
            );

            Post as a guest















            Required, but never shown

























            1 Answer
            1






            active

            oldest

            votes








            1 Answer
            1






            active

            oldest

            votes









            active

            oldest

            votes






            active

            oldest

            votes









            2














            apt is for managing remote repositories, dpkg - for locally installed packages. They're related. apt is front end to dpkg. When you run apt-get install package it gets .deb file, and installs it via dpkg. So numbers differ because there's a lot of packages available, but only fraction is installed locally on your system.



            apt-cache can show both installed and non-installed packages, because it queries the apt cache - listing of what is available in remote repositories ( that cache is what you get when you do apt-get update). For instance,



            $ apt-cache policy terminator
            terminator:
            Installed: (none)
            Candidate: 1.91-1


            $ dpkg -l terminator
            dpkg-query: no packages found matching terminator





            share|improve this answer






























              2














              apt is for managing remote repositories, dpkg - for locally installed packages. They're related. apt is front end to dpkg. When you run apt-get install package it gets .deb file, and installs it via dpkg. So numbers differ because there's a lot of packages available, but only fraction is installed locally on your system.



              apt-cache can show both installed and non-installed packages, because it queries the apt cache - listing of what is available in remote repositories ( that cache is what you get when you do apt-get update). For instance,



              $ apt-cache policy terminator
              terminator:
              Installed: (none)
              Candidate: 1.91-1


              $ dpkg -l terminator
              dpkg-query: no packages found matching terminator





              share|improve this answer




























                2












                2








                2







                apt is for managing remote repositories, dpkg - for locally installed packages. They're related. apt is front end to dpkg. When you run apt-get install package it gets .deb file, and installs it via dpkg. So numbers differ because there's a lot of packages available, but only fraction is installed locally on your system.



                apt-cache can show both installed and non-installed packages, because it queries the apt cache - listing of what is available in remote repositories ( that cache is what you get when you do apt-get update). For instance,



                $ apt-cache policy terminator
                terminator:
                Installed: (none)
                Candidate: 1.91-1


                $ dpkg -l terminator
                dpkg-query: no packages found matching terminator





                share|improve this answer















                apt is for managing remote repositories, dpkg - for locally installed packages. They're related. apt is front end to dpkg. When you run apt-get install package it gets .deb file, and installs it via dpkg. So numbers differ because there's a lot of packages available, but only fraction is installed locally on your system.



                apt-cache can show both installed and non-installed packages, because it queries the apt cache - listing of what is available in remote repositories ( that cache is what you get when you do apt-get update). For instance,



                $ apt-cache policy terminator
                terminator:
                Installed: (none)
                Candidate: 1.91-1


                $ dpkg -l terminator
                dpkg-query: no packages found matching terminator






                share|improve this answer














                share|improve this answer



                share|improve this answer








                edited 53 mins ago

























                answered 1 hour ago









                Sergiy KolodyazhnyySergiy Kolodyazhnyy

                73.9k9154323




                73.9k9154323






























                    draft saved

                    draft discarded




















































                    Thanks for contributing an answer to Ask Ubuntu!


                    • Please be sure to answer the question. Provide details and share your research!

                    But avoid



                    • Asking for help, clarification, or responding to other answers.

                    • Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience.


                    To learn more, see our tips on writing great answers.




                    draft saved


                    draft discarded














                    StackExchange.ready(
                    function () {
                    StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2faskubuntu.com%2fquestions%2f1124914%2fdistinction-between-apt-cache-and-dpkg-l%23new-answer', 'question_page');
                    }
                    );

                    Post as a guest















                    Required, but never shown





















































                    Required, but never shown














                    Required, but never shown












                    Required, but never shown







                    Required, but never shown

































                    Required, but never shown














                    Required, but never shown












                    Required, but never shown







                    Required, but never shown







                    Popular posts from this blog

                    SQL Server 17 - Attemping to backup to remote NAS but Access is denied

                    Always On Availability groups resolving state after failover - Remote harden of transaction...

                    Restoring from pg_dump with foreign key constraints