how to map a missing file to its containing package?

[Robert P. J. Day]

On Sat, 8 May 2010, Markus Schönhaber wrote:

> 08.05.2010 15:16, Robert P. J. Day:
> > ... what is the incantation to map a file to its (uninstalled)
> > package?  thanks.
>
> Among the possibilities are:
> 1. Go to http://packages.ubuntu.com and search for the named file in the
> "Search the contents of packages" section.
> 2. Install apt-file.

  that's the ticket -- apt-file.  and BTW, that's sort of thing i was
after when i asked about ubuntu post-install "best practises."  a
number of people replied with, "install package X."  and while that
might be useful for someone particularly interested in using X, it's
not really what i had in mind -- i was after stuff far more
fundamental.  like apt-file, i can see myself using that frequently as
i build up my system.

rday

p.s.  in the spirit of an exchange program, here's the incantation
under fedora, in case you ever have need of it:

  $ yum whatprovides /usr/include/curses.h
  $ yum whatprovides "*/curses.h"

--

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Robert P. J. Day                               Waterloo, Ontario, CANADA

            Linux Consulting, Training and Kernel Pedantry.

Web page:                                          http://crashcourse.ca
Twitter:                                       http://twitter.com/rpjday
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