apt vs apt-get / dist-upgrade vs full-upgrade

Website
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Man page apt(8) — apt — Debian bullseye — Debian Manpages 1) is for end users and 2) lists only full-upgrade. No more dist-upgrade

It is intended as an end user interface and enables some options better suited for interactive usage by default compared to more specialized APT tools like apt-get(8)

(dist-upgrade will always be available for compatibly with muscle memory, I think.)

Man page https://manpages.debian.org/bullseye/apt/apt-get.8.en.html: apt-get is for use in scripts.

  • apt dist-upgrade = apt full-upgrade
  • apt-get dist-upgrade = apt-get full-upgrade

apt has a progress meter in console, is slightly more appropriate for manual use however using apt-get instead has no disadvantage whatsoever (except no progress meter). It’s a question of taste only. No difference in security.

In short:

  • command line manual use: use apt (or apt-get)
  • in scripts: use apt-get, don’t use apt

sources:

Should we update user documentation to apt full-upgrade?

(I could do that wiki mass search and replace automation Special:ReplaceText.)

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Good idea.

Also if apt gives a progress meter, probably a good idea to replace apt-get with a wiki mass find-replace also? Better usability.

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Leaving this undone for a week or two in case there are further comments.

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No complaints for a month - therefore this should be implemented for usability?

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Yes, it’s done.