- <para>The package resource list is used to locate archives of the package
- distribution system in use on the system. At this time, this manual page
- documents only the packaging system used by the Debian GNU/Linux system.
- This control file is <filename>/etc/apt/sources.list</filename>.</para>
-
- <para>The source list is designed to support any number of active sources and a
- variety of source media. The file lists one source per line, with the
- most preferred source listed first. The format of each line is:
- <literal>type uri args</literal> The first item, <literal>type</literal>
- determines the format for <literal>args</literal>. <literal>uri</literal> is
- a Universal Resource Identifier
- (URI), which is a superset of the more specific and well-known Universal
- Resource Locator, or URL. The rest of the line can be marked as a comment
- by using a #.</para>
+ <para>
+ The source list <filename>/etc/apt/sources.list</filename> is designed to support
+ any number of active sources and a variety of source media. The file lists one
+ source per line, with the most preferred source listed first. The information available
+ from the configured sources is acquired by <command>apt-get update</command>
+ (or by an equivalent command from another APT front-end).
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Each line specifying a source starts with type (e.g. <literal>deb-src</literal>)
+ followed by options and arguments for this type.
+ Individual entries cannot be continued onto a following line. Empty lines
+ are ignored, and a <literal>#</literal> character anywhere on a line marks
+ the remainder of that line as a comment.
+ </para>