A short word about the configuration file of aptate, as the details of the config file are explained in a seperate manual that can be found here.... The configuration file is xml formatted. Nothing to worry about as xml formatted files can still be editted with good old editors like vi, emacs, jed, etc. However, it's strongly recommended to edit the config file with xemacs in psgml mode. Xemacs in this mode will be a great help for you to navigate you through the dire straits of the defining the configuration file. Xemacs will be like a GUI, showing you the the values that are available and it will show you the default values. To get Xemacs in psgml mode you need the pgsml module for xemacs and the configuration file should have the suffix ".xml". Other modern xml editors are kxmleditor and mlview.