Conclusion

RPM-based and Debian-based distributions, despite their differences, share some similarities when it comes to package management, in that both are designed to simplify the installation, removal, and management of software. RPM-based distributions use the rpm command to install, upgrade, and remove software, while Debian-based distributions use dpkg for the same purposes. To solve the headaches of dependency hell, RPM-based distributions have yum, a wrapper around rpm, while Debian-based distributions have apt, a wrapper around dpkg. Still, there are differences, principally in maturity and ease of use. In those areas, apt is definitely superior to yum, but yum is improving constantly.

In the end, both are still better than what Windows users have to put up with. Windows Update only updates Microsoft's own software and a few third-party hardware drivers, while both apt and yum handle virtually every piece of software on a Linux system. That's a huge advantage that Linux users have over their Microsoft cousins, and it's one that should make us proud.