The Debian Project has unveiled APT 3.0, a significant upgrade to its command-line interface (CLI) for package management. This new release introduces a redesigned user interface that enhances functionality and usability. Users can expect a cleaner, columnar output, making it simpler to navigate and search for package names. Key features of APT 3.0 include color support for command outputs—red for removals and green for other updates—and a more visually pleasing progress bar that employs Unicode blocks.
The revamped interface has been designed to be less verbose. It includes additional padding to help segregate sections and allows users to glean relevant information easily. Notably, it also introduces a new solver option that improves the handling of package versions and makes the autoremove function more effective, retaining only the most essential automatically installed packages.
Beyond the aesthetic improvements, APT 3.0 supports several new functionalities: --target-release options in ‘apt list’, a --comment feature for historical records, uncompressed indexes from partial file: mirrors, and automatic pagination similar to git commands. Other enhancements support debian-ports modernization, better kernel size calculations, a transition to OpenSSL for improved security, and updated documentation and translations.
This release is dedicated to Steve Langasek, a notable contributor to Ubuntu and Debian. APT 3.0 will be integrated as the default CLI in the upcoming Debian GNU/Linux 13 “Trixie”, scheduled for launch in the mid-2025 timeframe, and it will also feature in Ubuntu 25.04, expected to be released later this April.
For further details regarding the changes in this major release, visit the release announcement page, where you can also find the source package for compilation on your Debian-based system.
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