Win-get is like apt-get for Windows, but less useful

Filed under: Utilities, Windows, Linux, Freeware

Win-get is like apt-get for Windows, but less useful

by Brad Linder Jul 31st 2007

Win-get isn't the first attempt we've heard about to replicate the Debian Linux package management experience on Windows. But unlike Ed Ropple's proposal, Win-get already works. Sort of.

If you're not familiar with package management, here's how it works. You type "apt-get install <name of program>" into a terminal and your operating system will find that program online, download it, and install it. Newer versions of Linux have graphical interfaces that basically let you browse through a huge list of mostly free and open source software that you can download. No need to search the web for a good image editor. Just open your package manager and download GIMP.

Win-get aims to work pretty much like apt-get, but for free Windows software. We're not talking open source here, necessarily. Many of the programs in the win-get repository are free to download and install, but the source code may not be available. There's a huge list of software available for download.

All you have to do is:

Download wget.exe and Win-get.exe from the project homepage.
Go to your start menu and type "cmd" to get a command prompt.
Type "win-get install <name of program>" and win-get will go online, find your program and attempt to install it.

While we were able to download several programs easily using win-get, we couldn't get a single one to actually install. We're running Vista at the moment which may have something to do with it. But once you've download your installer files, it's not that hard to locate them using Windows Explorer and double-click the file to install.

Win-get is a work in progress, so hopefully a future release will run more smoothly. But we'd love to see a graphical, searchable interface at some point. Right now, win-get is only useful if you already know the software you want to install. And if you're already familiar with applications like AbiWord, 7-zip, and GIMPshop, you probably already know how to download and install them.

[via Digg]

Tags: apt-get, package management, package manager, PackageManagement, PackageManager, win-get

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Steven said 2:47PM on 7-31-2007

That's how package management is done in Debian-based Linux distributions.

fincan said 2:50PM on 7-31-2007

apt-get is not a Linux packet management tool, it's the package manager for Debian Linux, and of course other distributions which are based on Debian (i.e. Ubuntu).

Brad Linder said 2:51PM on 7-31-2007

Thanks guys, I updated the post to make it more clear that we're talking about the package management system used by Debian-based distributions.

James said 5:40PM on 7-31-2007

I guarantee that Vista is the problem -- probably, the programs want to write to "protected" directories (like Program Files), but are not granted any special Installer privs.

Anyway, I don't see the point. On my Linux box, apt-get is great because I almost never use the UI, let alone the web browser, so I like having a command-line application finder. On my Windows box, I almost never close my web browser, so if I want an app, I'll open a new window, Google the thing, and within three clicks it's usually downloaded to my desktop.

manoakys said 3:09PM on 8-02-2007

And what's about updating? win-get update ? Is there such function allready? In the debian-based distributions, updating is main thing which I like form apt-get ;)

khaleel said 1:45AM on 8-03-2007

well winget may have some potential for propriatory software it downloads a 'trial version' and then you pay for it if u like , or open an account at winget's site , it pays on your behalf

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