There are several main 'flavours' of PackageManagementTool in use in various LinuxDistributions?. These include:
Frontends to these tools include:
I personally have used RedHat (rpm), Debian (dpkg / apt), and Gentoo? ('portage' -- emerge). Of the three, RedHat rates worst for me, because I never really used up2date and so started getting annoyed with dependency hell. Debian and Gentoo are about the same in terms of ease of installation of a new application / upgrading packages, however Gentoo takes an age longer due to having to compile everything from source. --DanielLawson
Still that can hardly be construed as a drawback since the people who choose Gentoo do so precisely because it compiles everything from source. Certainly, it may have been a drawback for you, but that doesn't make it one in the general case. Everyone will have to examine their needs themselves. --AristotlePagaltzis
I never stated that it taking an age was a drawback for me. I was making the point highly obvious to anyone who read it. Personally, I don't really care how long things take to install. I rarely need something in an urgent hurry, and its fine to leave things compiling over the day while I'm at work. --DanielLawson
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