Swaret

Swaret is a software updating tool for the Slackware Linux distribution. It is covered under the GPL license, and it has several features that make it unique (library dependency detection & rollback capability). It can be downloaded from Sourceforge.

Rather than use version numbers, swaret synchronizes with whatever version of the software is on the Slackware mirror.

To install swaret: First, you must download the package. You can go to downloads and download the latest stable version. After downloading the package, type the following commands, replacing  with the package name (example, swaret-1.6.2-noarch-1.tgz) and  with the version you want to upgrade to (example, current or 10.0): installpkg  swaret --set VERSION= swaret --update swaret --upgrade

This must all be done under the root account using su or under your own account via sudo.

To use swaret to install a program (use the root account): updatedb swaret --update -a swaret --install You will then see swaret download and install the program, checking any dependencies and installing them.
 * open a console
 * update the database
 * update the swaret database
 * install the program

A similar method is used to upgrade a program, except you use --upgrade in place of --install.

Using -a in place of a program name will cause swaret to upgrade all of the packages on your system.