Getting Ubuntu Installed Package Versions

I recently discovered the apt-show-versions tool which lists the name and version number of all installed packages on an Ubuntu system. Coupled with the column tool, you can get a nice report of what is installed on your system, and what an upgrade would give you:

smrtv@fre-build1:~$ apt-show-versions | grep ssl | column -t

libssl1.0.0/precise-security     upgradeable  from 1.0.1-4ubuntu5.11 to 1.0.1-4ubuntu5.25

openssl/precise-security         upgradeable  from 1.0.1-4ubuntu5.11 to 1.0.1-4ubuntu5.25

python-openssl/precise-security  uptodate     0.12-1ubuntu2.1

ssl-cert/precise-updates         uptodate     1.0.28ubuntu0.1

Yes, I cheated a bit on the formatting, as column is not smart enough to stop columnizing after a particular column.