I checked out changelog.gz, changelog.Debian.gz as well as NEWS.Debian.gz but could not find what the difference is between convert and convert-im6 ?I did see that both are genuine binaries and not symlinks of one another. $ ll -h /usr/bin/convertlrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 25 Oct  2 14:26 /usr/bin/convert -> /etc/alternatives/convert$ ll -h /usr/bin/convert-im6lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 57 May 23 02:00 /usr/bin/convert-im6 -> ../lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/ImageMagick-6.9.1/bin-Q16/convertSo as can be seen, it seems the conversion happened on May 23 which is almost one week after changelog.Debian.gz last entry, so seems it is something and not documented. Any ideas anybody?
is there a difference between convert and convert-im6 and if yes, what?
debian;imagemagick
Debian uses a system called alternatives to manage some interchangeable dependencies that provide a particular set of functionalities. For example, there is a fork of ImageMagick called GraphicsMagick that provides largely the same commands, with a large overlap in remit.This brings a problem -- how can you have both installed by your package manager and have them both be usable, since they both provide utilities with the same names, and overlap in functionality?The alternative system allows you to select which should be primarily used across your system. You get a binary called convert-im6 for ImageMagick, and if you were to use GraphicsMagick, you'd probably get something like convert-gm (I've not checked, but you get the idea). Then, the alternative system allows you to set a symlink for the convert name that eventually goes to the program selected to be the primary program for this utility on this system. The symlink in your path, /usr/bin/convert, points to the alternative for convert, /etc/alternatives/convert, which points to the real binary to use, /usr/bin/convert-im6.The fact that /usr/bin/convert-im6 links somewhere else as well is just a packaging detail and is not related to the alternatives system.You can select a new alternative by using update-alternatives. More detailed information is available on the Debian wiki.