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In this answer, I came across this command:

aptitude why firefox

aptitude whylooks like an useful command but I don't want to install aptitude just for that. What is the apt-get equivalent of aptitude why?

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DK Bose
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2 Answers2

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Instead of apt-get I would have a look at apt-cache, though not one on one the same but close will be:

apt-cache --installed rdepends firefox
Avinash Raj
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Requist
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    This is not right answer. There is no similar for `aptitude why` – Maythux Feb 21 '14 at 12:28
  • Thanks! I mentioned apt-get but apt-cache will do just as well because it is installed by default. I should have made my question clear on this point! – DK Bose Feb 21 '14 at 12:29
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    Even though these two commands are not the same – Maythux Feb 21 '14 at 12:32
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    @maythux, as mentioned in my answer. But it comes close and gives reverse dependencies so it is useful for most users who ask this, so why not mention it? – Requist Feb 21 '14 at 12:34
  • The command aptitude why firefox gives i firefox-gnome-support Depends firefox The command apt-cache --installed rdepends firefox gives: firefox Reverse Depends: |rhythmbox-mozilla firefox-gnome-support flashplugin-installer xul-ext-ubufox xul-ext-ubufox ubuntu-desktop |totem-mozilla |rhythmbox-mozilla flashplugin-installer xul-ext-ubufox xul-ext-ubufox ubuntu-desktop |totem-mozilla |rhythmbox-mozilla hunspell-en-us hunspell-en-ca firefox-gnome-support – Maythux Feb 21 '14 at 12:35
  • Yes, the difference is in what reverse dependency was manually installed versus what reverse dependency is installed. – Requist Feb 21 '14 at 13:04
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    As suggested [here](http://askubuntu.com/questions/5636/can-i-see-why-a-package-is-installed#comment505140_5637) there is a bunch of other options you might want to add; `apt-cache rdepends --no-suggests --no-conflicts --no-breaks --no-replaces --no-enhances --installed --recurse $package` – tripleee Jun 29 '15 at 05:10
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People might want to know why an automatically installed package is present on the system. To get this information from the command line, you can use aptitude why package

apt-get has no similar feature

source:debian-handbook

Maythux
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