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I have installed google earth. I believe I did it through their website. I'm sure its named something along the lines of google-earth. Every time I do apt update i get an annoying message:

N: Skipping acquire of configured file 'main/binary-i386/Packages' as repository 'http://dl.google.com/linux/earth/deb stable InRelease' doesn't support architecture 'i386'

So, I intend to uninstall the program and try to re-install it. It does not show up in software center.

I found instructions for searching program names via:

sudo apt search <part-of-name-with-an-asterisk*>

being lazy, I typed:

sudo apt search earth*

this resulted in a very, very long list of programs that did not have "earth" in the filename.

Typing:

sudo apt search google-earth-pro

resulted in one program returned from the query. The correct one:

google-earth-pro-stable/stable,now 7.3.2.5494-r0 amd64 [installed] Explore, search and discover the planet

Now I can uninstall, however...

Now I'm confused as to why the first attempt yielded different results. If in the future I need to find the exact program name to be able to uninstall it, what is the correct procedure? I'm sure there are many ways to accomplish this, but I feel like I was just being lucky.

Lets say there is a complicated filename 24ewftw2ecw-24wfrew-f2ec or something, and all i can remember about the file was that it had ftw in it somewhere... What is an appropriate method?

What is an appropriate use for using the asterisk on apt search?

Thanks in advance!

SirTwis7
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    You might have better luck with apt-cache policy when looking for specific apps. Try apt-cache policy *earth* – Terrance Oct 05 '18 at 03:49
  • As I have not yet uninstalled the program, I tried the suggestion which returned: N: Unable to locate package earth – SirTwis7 Oct 05 '18 at 03:53
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    To get rid of your 'annoying message', limit the ARCH to amd64 for the google repo, ie. deb [arch=amd64] http... (note: I'm assuming here you're using AMD64, as google no longer support i386) – guiverc Oct 05 '18 at 03:53
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    @SirTwis7 You are typing in the *earth* correct? Without the asterisks it will not search for anything – Terrance Oct 05 '18 at 03:54
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    @guiverc I wish that were as easy as that to fix. I had to keep changing and adding that back on as something would change it back to without the [arch=amd64] and I haven't found an answer to keep that yet. Grrrrr – Terrance Oct 05 '18 at 03:56
  • @Terrance I didi not use asterisk. with asterisk at the end it gives the exact program I am looking for. with asterisk at end and at beginning it gives a long list of programs, including the target. – SirTwis7 Oct 05 '18 at 04:03
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    Yeah, sometimes you have to play with them till you find it. Asterisk at the beginning means find anything with whatever then the word. Asterisk at the end means starting with that word then ending with whatever. Asterisk on both sides means find all with the word in it where ever. – Terrance Oct 05 '18 at 04:06
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    The apt search command usually will find all applications with your search term in the description. apt-cache policy looks for the application name. – Terrance Oct 05 '18 at 04:10
  • @Terrance that makes perfect sense. – SirTwis7 Oct 05 '18 at 04:16
  • @guiverc Command deb not found – SirTwis7 Oct 05 '18 at 04:17
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    It wasn't a bash command, my intention was the add the "[arch=amd64] " between the deb & http(whatever google mirror you use) in your sources. It fixes the annoying message you mention; but as Terrance commented after that - it'll eventually return as the [arch=amd64] (which disables the i386, removing the error) gets removed by google software - so it's not permanent anyway (note Terrance's comment back ending in the grrrr) – guiverc Oct 05 '18 at 06:05

1 Answers1

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results from query contain "earth"

apt-cache policy *earth*

results from query start with "earth"f

apt-cache policy earth*

results from query end with "earth"

apt-cache policy *earth

you can generate a list of program names this way:

apt search earth

you cannot use an asterisk before the string:

apt search *earth   //This will not work.

you can use an asterisk afterward, but it appears to be redundant:

apt search earth*   //generates the same results as "apt search earth"

apt search will return packages that are both installed and not installed

apt-cache policy will return all of the same, but will tell you whether or not it is installed.

Huge shout out to @Terrance

SirTwis7
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