dpkgn

dpkgn is a command-line utility for managing Debian package files (.deb). It provides a way to interact with Debian archives outside of the standard dpkg package management system. This can be useful for various tasks such as inspecting package contents, extracting files, or building simple Debian packages.

The primary function of dpkgn is to unpack and examine the contents of a .deb file. It allows users to see the metadata within the package, such as the package name, version, dependencies, and maintainer information. It can also extract all the files contained within the package to a specified directory, making it possible to manually install or analyze the files without using dpkg.

dpkgn can be used for rudimentary package creation. By structuring directories correctly and providing necessary control files, users can assemble a .deb file from a set of files. This is typically for simpler packages or for learning purposes, as more complex package building often involves dedicated tools like debhelper.

While dpkgn offers direct manipulation of .deb files, it's important to note that it does not perform dependency resolution or handle system-wide package installation and removal in the same way that dpkg or higher-level tools like apt do. For standard system package management, dpkg and apt are the recommended tools. dpkgn serves as a more specialized utility for direct interaction with the package archive format itself.