On Sun, 08 May 2011, Ciaran Smith wrote: > My confusion begins with these files: > /var/cache/apt/pkgcache.bin
Read the apt source and any documentation on its internals. > /var/lib/dpkg/status > /var/lib/dpkg/available Read the dpkg source, and possibly the dselect source (ick), as well as the documentation on dpkg internals. > If you remove a package it is removed from the status file. I presume > apt-get > relies on status to tell if a package is already installed? apt-get relies on dpkg, so you now need to go into dpkg internals. > My understanding is that dpkg does not have the concept of a configured > remote repository. Correct. > So in the world of dpkg, what does it mean to say that a package is > "available"? AFAIK, it is some old crap related to dselect, so take a look at dselect as well. It is also possible that apt uses it for something. > I figure I need to understand how dpkg works because apt builds on top of > it. Correct. I think you can get better answers in the dpkg development ML... this thread is kind out-of-depth for debian-user :-p -- "One disk to rule them all, One disk to find them. One disk to bring them all and in the darkness grind them. In the Land of Redmond where the shadows lie." -- The Silicon Valley Tarot Henrique Holschuh -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [email protected] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [email protected] Archive: http://lists.debian.org/[email protected]
