The APT seems to have developed into a very comprehensive environment, hosting a multitude of command-line, and GUI based tools.
Comprehensive information regarding the APT system, specially from the perspective of a system maintainer does not seem to be available from one single source, but rather seems to be scattered over man-pages, blogs and How-To's.
What is/are the most up to date and comprehensive sources of information on the APT system which allows the user to appreciate:
- The architecture of the repositories, mirrors and package distribution system and APT as a whole
- The workings/mechanisms of the above
- The legal, social / community & policy issues affecting the above ( i.e. the various repositories and release policies and restrictions... etc. )
- The various client tools available for leveraging APT's facilities and capabilities
For example are there any recent publications that might cover some, most or even all of the above. Is there a new link or How-To to that effect?
Of course once the above are understood the man pages become a very tool.
Perhaps the info simply >is< scattered over the man-pages, blogs and How-To's and isn't organized under one roof...
... in that case could any of the experienced APT gurus, point out those resources that are available, particularly pointing out which of the above points (1 to 4) are addressed by each resource (to their best knowledge and judgement)?
This might help to list and summarize all the info related to APT in one point (i.e. the answers to this question) and may benefit many of the forum users specially when it comes to maintaining and updating their Ubuntu installations.