deb

deb refers to the Debian package format used by the Debian project and many Linux distributions derived from it, including Ubuntu and Linux Mint. A .deb file is a Debian package, an ar archive that contains three members: debian-binary, control.tar.gz, and data.tar.gz. The debian-binary file encodes the version of the packaging format. The control.tar.gz archive holds the package metadata, including the control file with fields such as Package, Version, Architecture, Depends, Description, and scripts like preinst and postinst. The data.tar.gz archive contains the actual filesystem objects to be installed.

Package management tools: dpkg is the low-level tool for installing and removing individual .deb files. APT (Advanced Package Tool) provides higher-level functionality, resolving dependencies and fetching packages from repositories. Users typically install via apt install or apt-get install, or locally with dpkg -i package.deb. If dependencies are missing after a local install, apt or apt-get -f can fix them.

Origins and scope: Deb packaging was introduced to facilitate distribution and installation of software for Debian. It is used by Debian itself and by derivatives such as Ubuntu, Kali Linux, and Linux Mint. The format is governed by the Debian Policy Manual, which defines conventions for metadata, semantics, and packaging guidelines. Security is enhanced through repository signing and package verification.

Naming and architecture: Deb packages are named package_version-architecture.deb, with architecture fields such as amd64, i386, arm64, and all for architecture-independent packages. The packaging system supports multiarch to enable installing packages for multiple architectures on a single host.