The fast and sensible Smart package manager
GET SMART
The package manager is one of the central components on any Linux system. If you have a system with unreliable package management – such as Suse Linux 10.1 – you may want to consider the Smart alternative.
The true test of a package manager is how the tool resolves dependencies. Smart is one of the best package managers around for navigating through dependency issues. The Smart package manager does not depend on any specific distribution, and it can handle more than ten repository formats. Smart comes with the smart command line tool, the Smart shell (smart -shell), and a graphical user interface (Figure 1), which you can launch by entering smart --gui. How Smart? The goal of the Smart project is to create “smart and portable algorithms for solving adequately the problem of managing software upgrade and installation.” There is a reason why this description from the the Smart developers emphasizes the algorithms. Algorithms are an important focus of the Smart project --and an important reason why the Smart developers believe their tool is different. When it comes to dependencies, Smart does not just use the easiest and most obvious solution but actually weighs every possible option using a policy-based priority system. In some cases, the “best” solution may depend upon the goal. For instance, if you are performing an upgrade, Smart may not choose the most recent version of a package if an intermediate version provides a better result for the complete system. Smart algorithms also consider efficiency factors, choosing the combination of packages that leads to the fastest and most reliable installation.
Buy this article as PDF
(incl. VAT)
Buy Linux Magazine
US / Canada
UK / Australia
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.
News
-
Linux Mint 20 Reaches EOL
With Linux Mint 20 at its end of life, the time has arrived to upgrade to Linux Mint 22.
-
TuxCare Announces Support for AlmaLinux 9.2
Thanks to TuxCare, AlmaLinux 9.2 (and soon version 9.6) now enjoys years of ongoing patching and compliance.
-
Go-Based Botnet Attacking IoT Devices
Using an SSH credential brute-force attack, the Go-based PumaBot is exploiting IoT devices everywhere.
-
Plasma 6.5 Promises Better Memory Optimization
With the stable Plasma 6.4 on the horizon, KDE has a few new tricks up its sleeve for Plasma 6.5.
-
KaOS 2025.05 Officially Qt5 Free
If you're a fan of independent Linux distributions, the team behind KaOS is proud to announce the latest iteration that includes kernel 6.14 and KDE's Plasma 6.3.5.
-
Linux Kernel 6.15 Now Available
The latest Linux kernel is now available with several new features/improvements and the usual bug fixes.
-
Microsoft Makes Surprising WSL Announcement
In a move that might surprise some users, Microsoft has made Windows Subsystem for Linux open source.
-
Red Hat Releases RHEL 10 Early
Red Hat quietly rolled out the official release of RHEL 10.0 a bit early.
-
openSUSE Joins End of 10
openSUSE has decided to not only join the End of 10 movement but it also will no longer support the Deepin Desktop Environment.
-
New Version of Flatpak Released
Flatpak 1.16.1 is now available as the latest, stable version with various improvements.