sysget – A Front-end for Every Package Manager in Linux

Linux comes in many flavors and many of us like to test all kind of distributions until we find the perfect match for our needs. The problem is that based on which major distribution your OS is build, the package manager might be different and turned out to be one that you are not particular familiar with.

There is a utility called sysget that can become a front-end for every package manager. Basically sysget serves as bridge and allows you to use same syntax for every package manager.

Read Also: 5 Best Package Managers for Linux Newbies

This is particularly useful for Linux newcomers who are taking their first steps in managing their OS over command line and like to hop from one distribution to another without having to learn new commands.

Sysget is in no means replacement of the distribution package manager. It is just wrapper of the OS package manager and if you are a Linux administrator it is probably better to stick to your own distro’s package manager.

Supported Package Managers

Sysget supports wide range of package managers including:

1. apt-get or apt
2. xbps
3. dnf
4. yum
5. zypper
6. eopkg
7. pacman
8. emerge
9. pkg
10. chromebrew
11. homebrew
12. nix
13. snap
14. Npm

Sysget Features

• search for packages
• install packages
• remove packages
• remove orphans
• clear package manager cache
• update database
• upgrade system
• upgrade single package

The official git repository of sysget is available here.

How to Install and Use Sysget in Linux

The installation of sysget is particularly easy and trivial and can be completed with the following commands.

$ sudo wget -O /usr/local/bin/sysget https://github.com/emilengler/sysget/releases/download/v1.2.1/sysget 
$ sudo mkdir -p /usr/local/share/sysget 
$ sudo chmod a+x /usr/local/bin/sysget

Usage of sysget is also pretty simple and commands often look like the ones used with apt. When you run sysget for first time you will be asked for your system’s package manager and see a list of available ones. You must choose the one for your OS:

$ sudo sysget

Once this is done, you can use the following commands:

For package installation.

$ sudo sysget install <package name>

To remove a package:

$ sudo sysget remove package

To run an update:

$ sudo sysget update

To upgrade your system:

$ sudo sysget upgrade

Upgrade specific package with:

$ sudo sysget upgrade <package name>

To remove orphans:

$ sudo sysget autoremove 

Clean package manager cache:

$ sudo sysget clean 

Let’s see it in action. Here is a sample installation of emacs on Ubuntu system.

$ sudo sysget install emacs

And here is how to remove a package:

$ sudo sysget remove emacs

If you need to go through sysget options, you can type:

$ sudo sysget help

This will show a list of available options you can use with sysget:

Conclusion

Remember that syntax for sysget is the same across all supported distributions. Still it is not mean to completely replace your OS package manager, but just to cover the basic needs to operate packages on the system.

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