Package manager apt makes version jump to 3.0.0
The Linux package manager apt has now been released as stable version 3.0.0. It brings an improved display, for example.
(Image: heise online / dmk)
Version 3.0.0 of the package manager apt was released at the weekend. The user interface has been given a better display and thus helps to maintain an overview.
The release of version 3.0.0 of apt also marks the end of development in the 2.9 development branch. The changes made there have now been incorporated into the stable version. The main developer of apt, Julian Andres Klode, has announced apt-3.0.0 on Mastodon. He explains that he was not able to include everything he wanted in the release, but still more than he had expected.
Further development foreseeable
"Some work is still needed for 'modernized-sources' and to enable translations of the error messages of the new solver, but this may happen in the 3.0.x versions," Klode continues. He dedicated the release to the recently deceased Steve Langasek, a long-time Debian developer.
In the official release announcement, the overview of the changes remains quite brief. Essentially, the version number has been raised as a starting signal for the "stable" development branch 3.0.0. The symbols have been raised to the level of apt-2.9.35. There has been a small improvement to the newly integrated "solver3" for resolving package dependencies. Klode also mentions several updated translations.
This is also due to the fact that most of the changes were made in the 2.9 development branch of apt. Ubuntu 24.10 has already moved to this "preview version" 2.9, which comes with a much better display on the command line, providing a better overview when installing or uninstalling packages.
As can be seen in the screenshot above, apt 3 highlights the packages to be installed or deleted in color. In addition, a kind of tabular display with columns clears up the screen instead of simply listing package names one after the other separated by spaces. The progress of downloading and installing is also moving away from the old black and white charm and ushering in the era of color displays.
apt-3.0 appeared shortly before the Ubuntu 25.04 release, in Debian it initially ended up in the unstable branch. It therefore remains to be seen whether apt 3 is already working in the final Ubuntu 25.04.
(dmk)