Yum-like package list?

[G. A. Gallup]

Greeting All,
    I recently switched to KUBUNTU from FCn and have been quite  
pleased with the new system.  One thing I miss, however, is the yum  
'list' feature to produce a searchable file of package names for  
installation or up-date.  Is there an equivalent for this in KUBUNTU?   
I have found the adept-installer search feature too primitive to be  
useful.
GAG