February 25, 2025

Check (reverse) dependencies of a package.

$ apt-cache depends <package>

or

$ apt depends <package>

For example:

$ apt depends xxd
xxd
  Depends: libc6 (>= 2.34)
  Breaks: vim-common (<< 2:7.4.2347-1~)
  Replaces: vim-common (<< 2:7.4.2347-1~)

to see package.s a package depends on, or breaks.

Also:

$ apt-cache rdepends --installed <package>

or

$ apt rdepends <package>

For example:

$ apt rdepends xxd
xxd
Reverse Depends:
 |Recommends: diffoscope
  Depends: vim-common
  Depends: vim-common
 |Depends: pollinate
  Recommends: neovim
  Depends: forensics-extra
 |Recommends: diffoscope-minimal

to see which package.s a package is a dependency of.

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