this post was submitted on 16 Oct 2025
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Linux

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Linux Package Managers Compared: APT, DNF, Pacman and Zypper (linuxblog.io)
submitted 2 weeks ago by cm0002@lemmy.zip to c/linux@programming.dev
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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 of installing and updating software.

After using Linux for years (across everything from Debian to Arch-based systems), I’ve grown comfortable with all of them. Even niche distros like Slackware, Gentoo, and Void. In this post, I’ll break down the major package managers, how they differ, and what it’s like to use each one. We’ll also touch on the universal package formats (Snap and Flatpak) that aim to work across distributions, and lastly mention a few niche package management systems. Let’s dive in!

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[–] foliumcreations@lemmy.world 6 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

App images, love the fact that they exist thou sometimes graphically jarring. Sure.. ever only used them for two different applications. Both pretty niche. And not available in my distro repo or flathub. Not advocating for it to become something universal,or anything but they seem pretty distro agnostic. Which I'm guessing is easier to maintain? Or not? Not a developer.

[–] TheMadCodger@piefed.social 9 points 2 weeks ago

Yeah, I'll take an appimage if that's what I can get, but it's not my favorite way to deal with it. I'm on Bluefin, so it's flatpak and homebrew for me.