How to know whats available?

[amyren]

I use the latest Raspian and one thing I miss is some sort of a repository browser. I have only tried a few other linux variants before on my pc, like pclinuxos and puppy. But they usually come with some sort of tool that lets you locate and install wanted software.
On the Pi I found two ways, one is to type apt-get install <appname> and hope that there is a package with that name and that you have spelled it correctly.
Another way is to search the forums and find someone else that have asked about some specific software and follow their replies.
Is there an easier way to find software for the Pi, say I want an FTP or torrent client, is there a way to search the repository by category or by file name?

[ghans]

apt-cache search appname - searches appname (or description appname)

apt-get install aptitude - graphical package manager
apt-get install synaptic - windowsy graphical package manager (for X11)

ghans

[amyren]

wow, thank you very much. This was exactly what I was looking for.
Turned out that aptitude was already in my Raspian install, I just didnt know its existence. Makes me think there should have been a menu entry for it in the taskbar menu.
But I'm familar with the synaptic interface, so I will try that out