> Date: Friday, January 29, 2016 21:32:38 -0800 > From: John R Pierce <pierce at hogranch.com> > > On 1/29/2016 9:22 PM, david wrote: >> Is there a reason for this inconsistency? The above algorithm >> works with most other packages. > > what 'algorithm' ? there's no fixed correlation between program > name and package name. > > for example, the package providing 'iostat' and 'sar' is called > sysstat. > > And, some packages change their names in different major releases > of an OS. Some packages are dropped entirely in new releases, and > other packages are added. You might see this as an inconsistency at the command->package mapping level, but it's a consistency/compatibility at the user/system level. Can you imagine having to go through and change every script, program and user's memory every time a package name changed? Look at /etc/alternatives and the symbolic links in /bin and /sbin for a range of remappings. It has been a long time since one looked for a "csh" binary, even if that's the shell in someone's passwd file entry that has been brought forward from an older system. Then there's sendmail->postfix. And, if you want a database, you still enter "mysql", but now get mariadb.