If you’ve hopped between Linux distributions as much as I have, you know that each major family of distros introduces you to a different package manager. At first, it can feel a bit daunting (apt on Debian/Ubuntu, dnf on RHEL/Fedora, pacman on Arch, and zypper on openSUSE), but these tools all serve the same purpose… continue reading.
@hydn Once again you have done some excellent work. My overall comment is that when I began with Linux, in my opinion the only package managers worth anything were apt-get, simple Slackware packaging, and the early Mandrake tools with the .rpm package format. Since then there has been incredible progress. Though zypper seemed perhaps less impressive to you, I think it’s probably the most improved of all the different packaging front end tools. SUSE has long been an outstanding distribution, but until zypper came out, package management was arguably their weakest point. To me using zypper now is effortless. When I have an openSUSE setup I typically alias the zypper dup command and away I go; very easy for a tool that does so much.
The other infrastructure that’s come at least as far, maybe more so are the Arch Linux derivatives. It was once assumed that the only people who could use Arch were the people willing to dig through the system and build or install whatever they wanted. Okay, powerful, but distributions now realize that most people don’t want to waste their time that way, and if they do, they’ll build what they want from scratch. Pacman has done a lot, but yay has really simplified the game. Both Endeavour OS and Cachy OS now have welcome screens that will even call those tools FOR you! It’s about time there were conveniences like that. I didn’t even have to build a bunch of alias commands to call up my tools there either.
Fedora was also a mess, but they fixed up their stuff a long time ago, but the only thing that gets me is that they keep changing the front end to their package managers. Get it right and stick with it guys!
In any case, overall package handling and management has made tremendous strides in the past 25-30 years and I’m grateful.
Nice article and explanation of several of the most common package managers!
I really appreciate the thoughtful feedback and I completely agree with you on Zypper. In fact, it’s the only package manager in my comparison that got a full 5 in both system management and dependency resolution. It’s come a long way, and I’ve also found it to be one of the most seamless to use once it’s set up.
Your point on Arch and tools like yay is spot on. Pacman’s always been fast, but the AUR ecosystem plus helper tools really changed how approachable Arch-based distros are. Endeavour and Cachy in particular have lowered the barrier without losing the flexibility Arch users value.
And yes, Fedora has matured a lot too, even if they’ve switched frontends a few times. But so has Ubuntu and Debian.
All in all, I share your view: Linux package management has evolved massively since the early apt-get and Slackware days. It’s impressive how much polish and choice users have now.
Definitely deserved a mention. Thanks for adding that. 
But so has Ubuntu and Debian.