I think there's a perception that aptitude can be to smart for its own good. From the Debian Reference: "Although the aptitude command comes with rich features

I think there's a perception that aptitude can be to smart for its own good. From the Debian Reference: "Although the aptitude command comes with rich features such as its enhanced package resolver, this complexity has caused (or may still causes) some regressions such as Bug #411123, Bug #514930, and Bug #570377. In case of doubt, please use the apt-get and apt-cache commands over the aptitude command." http://www.debian.org/doc/manuals/debian-reference/ch02.en.html#_basic_package_management_operations http://www.debian.org/doc/manuals/debian-reference/ch02.en.h...