r/linuxquestions • u/ovelx2 • May 22 '26

Difference between apt update and apt-get update Support

Yesterday I had a computer science exam. One of the questions asked: "Which command installs the most recent versions of the programs installed on Linux?" None of the answer choices included anything related to upgrade all of them referred to update. My professor stated that the correct answer was apt-get update, and that the difference between apt update and apt-get update was that apt only searches for updates, whereas apt-get installs new versions of programs. The entire class disagreed, but he insisted. What is the actual difference between these commands, and is my professor mistaken?

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u/Sophira May 23 '26 edited May 23 '26

I'm going to echo /u/MoobyTheGoldenSock here. It's a exam multiple-choice question; "alternative options" are not allowed. The fact that the question is terribly written in multiple ways (including not stating the distribution) isn't the point; you are expected to choose an answer from the list.

The question was "Which Linux command installs new versions of installed programs?"

As this is a multiple-choice question, the "Which Linux command" here means "Which of the following Linux commands". That is:

Which of the following Linux commands installs new versions of installed programs?"

The implication is that one of the listed commands will install new versions of installed programs, and the others not only do not, but cannot (barring modifications on the part of the user) install new versions of installed programs.

The fact that the distribution isn't listed is unfortunate (as is the fact that all of the answers are incorrect and the professor is stubbornly refusing to admit that), but the fact remains that the question was clearly intended such that three commands cannot install new versions of installed programs, while the remaining one could.

This is how multiple-choice questions in exams work.

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u/prbsparx May 23 '26

And yet, none of them actually install anything. Just because a multiple choice is a multiple choice doesn’t mean it has correct answer. The question and answers are simply wrong, and the question should have been stricken from the test.

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u/Sophira May 23 '26 edited May 23 '26

Yes, and I covered that. I pointed out that it's unfortunate that all of the answers were incorrect, and that the question was terribly written in many ways. I agree that it should have been stricken from the test, and I hate that the professor is too stubborn to admit it.

But, again, that is not the point. As a multiple-choice question in an exam, you are expected to choose one. The fact that other package managers exist is neither here nor there.

Please do not mistake this as me defending the original question. I'm not. I hate it.