Currently, the vast majority of Linux operating systems have a intuitive and easy to use graphics interface for package managers. For this reason, we discuss some basic features of the best-known command-line packet managers, which commonly generate doubts.

YUM (Yellow dog Updater, Modified) package manager

This is the package manager for RPM-based Linux systems as Fedora, Redhat, CentOS and its derivatives e.g. BlueCat. Some of the most common uses are:

yum install package                     # download and install a package and its dependencies
yum localinstall package.rpm            # install a previously downloaded package and its dependencies
yum update                              # update all installed packages
yum update package                      # update a package
yum remove package                      # remove a package
yum list                                # list all installed packages
yum search package                      # find a package in the repository
yum clean all                           # remove cache packages, headers and others

Dpkg package manager

This is the basis of Debian's package management system, and therefore, it is also used by distributions like Ubuntu and its derivatives. Some examples are:

dpkg -i package.deb           # install a package
dpkg -r package               # remove a package
dpkg -l                       # list all installed packages
dpkg -l | grep httpd          # show all packages with the name "httpd"
dpkg -s package               # obtain information of installed package
dpkg -L package               # file list of an installed package
dpkg -S /bin/ping             # verify which file a package belongs to

APT and APTITUDE package managers

APT (Advanced Packaging Tool) is not really a program, but a C++ library that is used by several programs, e.g. apt-get or apt-cache. On the other hand, aptitude is an interface for apt that facilitate search systems and dependence resolutions to users. These package managers have commands and options similar to those already described, as we can see below:

apt-get install package                # install a package
apt-cdrom install package              # install a package from cdrom
apt-get update                         # update the list of packages
apt-get upgrade                        # update all installed packages
apt-get remove package                 # remove a package
apt-get check                          # verify dependencies
apt-get clean                          # clean cache
apt-cache search package               # list packages that corresponds to "package"
aptitude search paquete                # looking for a package by its name
aptitude show paquete | less           # display information about a package
aptitude install paquete1 paquete2 …   # install multiple packages and their dependencies
aptitude remove paquete                # remove a package
aptitude purge paquete                 # remove a package and clean cache
aptitude clean                         # clean cache

PD: Do you like cows? writes in a terminal: apt-get moo

References

1. http://yum.baseurl.org/
2. http://www.debian.org/doc/manuals/debian-faq/ch-pkgtools.en.html
3. http://www.debian.org/doc/manuals/apt-howto/index.es.html
4. http://algebraicthunk.net/~dburrows/projects/aptitude/