Ubuntu – How to install suggested packages in apt-get

aptsoftware installation

I know the question has been asked before, but please hear me out. So I wanted to install screenlets. I ran sudo apt-get install screenlets, and this is what I got:

The following extra packages will be installed:
  libart-2.0-2 libbonobo2-0 libbonobo2-common libbonoboui2-0 libbonoboui2-common libgnome2-0 libgnomecanvas2-0
  libgnomecanvas2-common libgnomeui-0 libgnomeui-common libtidy-0.99-0 python-beautifulsoup python-evolution
  python-feedparser python-gmenu python-gnome2 python-numpy python-pyorbit python-rsvg python-tz python-utidylib
  screenlets-pack-basic
Suggested packages:
  libbonobo2-bin python-gnome2-doc python-numpy-doc python-numpy-dbg python-nose python-dev gfortran
  python-pyorbit-dbg screenlets-pack-all python-dcop
Recommended packages:
  python-numeric python-gnome2-extras
The following NEW packages will be installed:
  libart-2.0-2 libbonobo2-0 libbonobo2-common libbonoboui2-0 libbonoboui2-common libgnome2-0 libgnomecanvas2-0
  libgnomecanvas2-common libgnomeui-0 libgnomeui-common libtidy-0.99-0 python-beautifulsoup python-evolution
  python-feedparser python-gmenu python-gnome2 python-numpy python-pyorbit python-rsvg python-tz python-utidylib
  screenlets screenlets-pack-basic
0 upgraded, 23 newly installed, 0 to remove and 2 not upgraded.

People say that Recommended packages are installed by default, but they are clearly not included in the NEW packages that will be installed above. I also decided to include the Suggested packages in the installation, so I ran sudo apt-get --install-suggests install screenlets instead, but I got a HUGE list of NEW packages that will be installed; that number is precisely 0 upgraded, 944 newly installed, 0 to remove and 2 not upgraded. Should'nt I be getting only around 10 extra packages?

Best Answer

suggests and recommends are not the same thing.

Package A depends on Package B if B absolutely must be installed in order to run A. In some cases, A depends not only on B, but on a version of B. In this case, the version dependency is usually a lower limit, in the sense that A depends on any version of B more recent than some specified version.

Package A recommends Package B, if the package maintainer judges that most users would not want A without also having the functionality provided by B.

Package A suggests Package B if B contains files that are related to (and usually enhance) the functionality of A.

See The Debian GNU/Linux FAQ for details.

By default, apt-get installs recommended packages.

Your option --install-suggests adds in the suggested packages and their suggested dependencies.

--install-suggests
    Consider suggested packages as a dependency for installing.
    Configuration Item: APT::Install-Suggests.

see apt-get(8).

Related Solutions

Ubuntu – Installing suggested/recommended packages

Recommends are installed by default (since Lucid). To negate this for a specific package, use apt-get --no-install-recommends install pkg. Suggests, however, are not. You can install the suggests for a single package installation by using apt-get -o APT::Install-Suggests="true" install pkg.

Installing conky without Suggests:

laney@iota> sudo apt-get install conky
[...]
Suggested packages:
  apcupsd moc mpd
The following NEW packages will be installed
  conky conky-all

…or with Suggests:

laney@iota> sudo apt-get -o APT::Install-Suggests="true" install conky
[...]
The following NEW packages will be installed
  apache2 apache2-doc apache2-mpm-worker apache2-suexec apache2-utils apache2.2-bin apache2.2-common apcupsd apcupsd-cgi apcupsd-doc ario ario-common conky
  conky-all icecast2 ices2 libao-common libao4 libaprutil1-dbd-sqlite3 libaprutil1-ldap libcue1 libmpdclient2 libresid-builder0c2a libsidplay2 libsidutils0
  moc moc-ffmpeg-plugin mpd

You can make this the default behaviour by putting

APT::Install-Suggests "true"

in a file in /etc/apt/apt.conf.d/, for example /etc/apt/apt.conf.d/30install-suggests.

Ubuntu – How are packages actually installed via apt-get install

The advantages of a package management system such as apt, yum, pacman, emerge, etc include:

It's easy to query what version of a package is installed or available.
It's easy to remove a package entirely, making sure all its files are gone.
It's easy to verify the integrity of the packages files, so you can see if it's been corrupted or tampered with.
It's easy to upgrade a package by installing the new version and removing all the old versions files. This will make sure not to leave any lingering files from the old package around to confuse or break things.
It's easy to see what packages require or provide things that other packages provide or require, so you can be sure to have the needed items for the package to function correctly.
It's easy to install or remove groups of packages.
In many cases it's possible to downgrade back to a previous version of a package, for example when a new version has a bug.

Although it is for Fedora, see also:

https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Package_management_system

Installing from source may have advantages

You can customize the binaries (enable / disable options)
More up to date package then is available in the repositories
Sometimes necessary for bug fixes

But the disadvantages are that you will have to then manually update the package when a new version is available and you will often loose support.

IMO if you wish to compile all or most of your packages, I would advise Gentoo.

Best Answer

Related Solutions

Ubuntu – Installing suggested/recommended packages

Ubuntu – How are packages actually installed via apt-get install

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