file that is split into multiple files. In this sense, all of the files in
/etc/apt/apt.conf.d/
are in-
structions for the configuration of APT. APT processes the files in alphabetical order, so that the
later files can modify configuration elements defined in the earlier files.
This structure brings some flexibility to administrators and package maintainers, allowing them
to make software configuration changes through file additions without having to change an ex-
isting file. This is especially helpful for package maintainers because they can use this approach
to adapt the configuration of other software to ensure that it perfectly co-exists with theirs, with-
out breaking the Debian policy that explicitly forbids modifying configuration files of other pack-
ages. Because of the
.d
configuration mechanism, you don’t have to manually follow multiple
package configuration instructions typically found in the package’s
/usr/share/doc/
package
/README.Debian
file, since the installer can drop in configuration files.
