> As for this automatic get thing you guys get so excited about, I've never
> bothered to look because I'd rather grab the rpms when it's convenient for
> me, and put them in a place where the other 8 computers can get at them.
> I don't see what's so hard about
>         ncftp ftp://ftp.mn-linux.org/pub/linux/redhat/updates/
>         get *

Well, the difference is that apt-get update; apt-get upgrade; will upgrade
everything automaticaly, and gets the dependencies right (ummm...except in
unstable ;) If you want to download those packages for mutiple systems,
replace apt-get upgrade with apt-get -d -y upgrade and then use apt-move
tool to create a local, apt-get capible mirror. 

Package description:
---
apt-move is used to move a collection of Debian package files into a proper
archive hierarchy of the form debian/dists/...  It is intended as a tool to
help manage the apt-get(8) file cache, but could be configured to work with
any collection of Debian packages.

Running apt-move periodically will assist in managing the resulting partial
mirror by optionally removing obsolete packages, and creating valid local
Packages.gz files.  It can also optionally employ rsync(1) to build a
partial or complete local mirror of a Debian binary distribution (including
an ``installed-packages only'' mirror).
---

So the same functionality is there, in Debian's usual RTFM kinda way...

I will say I wish I had known rpm better before I gave up on Red Hat. =)

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