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It's just bad advice to give to tell people to type in longer codes than are necessary. Think of all the wasted seconds spent typing that extra -get that could be spent on other things. Yes, some apt codes are slightly different, but lets learn those differences instead of making people waste their time due to not wanting to learn them.

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    Is it really that big a deal? Like you say, they accomplish the same thing, but it's a four-character difference. I don't know your typing speed, but the average person could probably do that in under 0.5 seconds. Until apt-get is officially deprecated, I don't think it's "bad advice" in any way to use apt-get in an answer.
    – TheWanderer
    Commented Jul 26, 2018 at 6:17
  • Time is money. There's no reason to waste time pointlessly. I guess you just can't see the reasoning behind what I'm saying... (a problem, not a solution!)
    – Emandudeguy
    Commented Jul 26, 2018 at 6:25
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    @TheWanderer I don’t think apt-get is any more deprecated than apt itself. @OP I think you got the right idea, often apt is the better alternative for users. However, if the command is presented on the site, most people will copy and paste it anyway – I don’t see the typing as a problem, but I think the more user-friendly output of apt justifies using it. @all As to the differences and uses of both, see apt gives “Unstable CLI Interface” warning.
    – dessert
    Commented Jul 26, 2018 at 7:14
  • Your comment is a total nonsequitor, @dessert, and so of course it has plenty of thumbs up.
    – Emandudeguy
    Commented Jul 26, 2018 at 7:55
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    the little difference between apt and apt-get is about the display bar/purcentage display; some people prefer apt-get prompt, so that's why we see on some tutorial the use of apt-get, but they do exactly the same work ! N.B: there is also aptitude, but it's not installed by default now and is very long to write, but that's another (which personnally, I don't like it)
    – damadam
    Commented Jul 26, 2018 at 8:45
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    @damadam Aptitude is mainly a TUI application, although it has a few CLI use-cases.
    – Melebius
    Commented Jul 26, 2018 at 9:56
  • @Melebius I mean, you have to open it (aptitude) from the terminal just the same way, it just uses different interface... semantics.
    – Emandudeguy
    Commented Jul 26, 2018 at 10:13
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    @dessert that's what I said. apt-get isn't deprecated, so why stop using it?
    – TheWanderer
    Commented Jul 26, 2018 at 21:00
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    I use aliases to get 'round "Think of all the wasted seconds spent typing that".
    – DK Bose
    Commented Jul 27, 2018 at 11:54

2 Answers 2

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Even when keeping in mind What is the difference between apt and apt-get? there is still no logical reason to enforce using apt over apt-get/apt-cache. An extra second or two to type 4-6 extra characters is not a major inconvenience and the vast majority of users are not going to care if they're typing apt versus apt-get so long as it gets the job done of what they're intending to do.

There may also be other factors at play, such as how used to a specific command being typed someone is.

If I am writing answers, I tend to use apt-get because I've been using Ubuntu since 9.04 and it's ingrained in me that that's the command to use for command line management of installed packages. Yes, apt can do the same thing, but in my case it's muscle-memory and a habit to write out apt-get.

If Joe Smith is used to using apt and not apt-get and has a user write out apt install ... instead of apt-get install ... then that's their preference, and they're probably used to using apt.

Ultimately, however, it's a matter of preference to what the user who posts a given answer/question uses as to which the answer may use for its commands. apt or apt-get both work, and neither are deprecated to the point they don't work, so users can use either of them in answers depending on their preference.

As I said earlier, there's no logical reason to enforce the usage of one or the other. After all, the vast majority of users are not going to be inconvenienced by a single second or two's worth of extra typing.

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  • No. they are gonna care. They just don't know that apt exists. Of course they would want to use it if they knew what it was, they don't want to waste time just like every other reasonable person on the planet! As soon as I heard apt was a thing, I made a note to myself like "I will never use apt-get again since I don't need to, its a waste of time." many other people would take note of that if they only knew about it.
    – Emandudeguy
    Commented Jul 26, 2018 at 21:22
  • nobody enjoys wasting extra seconds of time every day on pointless stubbornness. So lets not wrong our fellow user by wasting their time. It's very simple and easy to understand.
    – Emandudeguy
    Commented Jul 26, 2018 at 21:24
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We all know the difference:

Both have their merit as both work for the task they are designed to.

This also means there is no reason why we should force people into one or the other.

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  • yes, there is a reason to ask that people help their fellow users by helping them not waste time. As I've already stated, it's a waste of time to type the extra -get when it is not necessary.
    – Emandudeguy
    Commented Jul 26, 2018 at 11:16
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    @Emandudeguy the overwhelming vast majority of users are not going to care that it takes an extra second or two to type a few extra characters. You may care about that, but the vast majority of other users don't.
    – Thomas Ward Mod
    Commented Jul 26, 2018 at 15:26
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    Not to mention, dessert makes a great point that most people just copy and paste the commands presented. If we're going to start distinguishing between the time it takes to copy a command with apt and one with apt-get, we're going to need a proverbial electron microscope.
    – TheWanderer
    Commented Jul 26, 2018 at 21:02

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