https://linuxtransfer.com/tags/package-management/Recent content in Package-Management on Linux SecurityHugoenFri, 15 May 2026 10:01:55 +0200https://linuxtransfer.com/post/2026-05-15-taming-dependency-hell-using-apt-mark-to-pin-/Fri, 15 May 2026 10:01:55 +0200https://linuxtransfer.com/post/2026-05-15-taming-dependency-hell-using-apt-mark-to-pin-/<h2 id="introduction-to-dependency-hell">Introduction to Dependency Hell</h2> <p>I&rsquo;ve seen this go wrong when you&rsquo;re in the middle of a critical project and a package update breaks a dependency, causing system instability. In Debian-based systems, <code>apt-mark</code> is a useful tool for pinning packages and avoiding this kind of chaos. It&rsquo;s not a silver bullet, but it can help prevent packages from being automatically removed or upgraded, which can cause conflicts.</p> <h2 id="what-is-apt-mark">What is apt-mark?</h2> <p><code>apt-mark</code> is a command-line tool that allows you to mark packages as automatically installed or manually installed. This can be a lifesaver when you need to prevent a package from being automatically upgraded to a newer version that may cause conflicts. Don&rsquo;t bother with trying to manually manage dependencies - <code>apt-mark</code> makes it easy to pin packages to a specific version.</p>