diff --git a/avocado/utils/software_manager.py b/avocado/utils/software_manager.py
index b3ce262a515496c5021b81b71811ecbfd6b8d710..142fd0bfb11b0ee991517e6d59642890fd44095b 100644
--- a/avocado/utils/software_manager.py
+++ b/avocado/utils/software_manager.py
@@ -207,10 +207,7 @@ class RpmBackend(BaseBackend):
         if 'not installed' in inst_version:
             return False
 
-        if inst_version >= version:
-            return True
-        else:
-            return False
+        return bool(inst_version >= version)
 
     def check_installed(self, name, version=None, arch=None):
         """
@@ -367,7 +364,7 @@ class YumBackend(RpmBackend):
                                  verbose=False, shell=True)
         out = cmd_result.stdout.strip()
         try:
-            ver = re.findall('\d*.\d*.\d*', out)[0]
+            ver = re.findall(r'\d*.\d*.\d*', out)[0]
         except IndexError:
             ver = out
         self.pm_version = ver
@@ -504,9 +501,9 @@ class YumBackend(RpmBackend):
             return None
         try:
             d_provides = self.yum_base.searchPackageProvides(args=[name])
-        except Exception, e:
+        except Exception, exc:
             log.error("Error searching for package that "
-                      "provides %s: %s", name, e)
+                      "provides %s: %s", name, exc)
             d_provides = []
 
         provides_list = [key for key in d_provides]
@@ -674,19 +671,20 @@ class AptBackend(DpkgBackend):
         executable = utils_path.find_command('apt-get')
         self.base_command = executable + ' --yes --allow-unauthenticated'
         self.repo_file_path = '/etc/apt/sources.list.d/avocado.list'
-        self.dpkg_force_confdef = '-o Dpkg::Options::="--force-confdef" -o Dpkg::Options::="--force-confold"'
+        self.dpkg_force_confdef = ('-o Dpkg::Options::="--force-confdef" '
+                                   '-o Dpkg::Options::="--force-confold"')
         cmd_result = process.run('apt-get -v | head -1',
                                  ignore_status=True,
                                  verbose=False,
                                  shell=True)
         out = cmd_result.stdout.strip()
         try:
-            ver = re.findall('\d\S*', out)[0]
+            ver = re.findall(r'\d\S*', out)[0]
         except IndexError:
             ver = out
         self.pm_version = ver
 
-        log.debug('apt-get version: %s' % self.pm_version)
+        log.debug('apt-get version: %s', self.pm_version)
         # gdebi-core is necessary for local installation with dependency
         # handling
         if not self.check_installed('gdebi-core'):
@@ -706,7 +704,8 @@ class AptBackend(DpkgBackend):
             i_cmd = utils_path.find_command('gdebi') + ' -n -q ' + name
         else:
             command = 'install'
-            i_cmd = " ".join([self.base_command, self.dpkg_force_confdef, command, name])
+            i_cmd = " ".join([self.base_command, self.dpkg_force_confdef,
+                              command, name])
 
         try:
             process.system(i_cmd, shell=True, sudo=True)
@@ -758,7 +757,7 @@ class AptBackend(DpkgBackend):
             new_file_contents = []
             with open(self.repo_file_path, 'r') as repo_file:
                 for line in repo_file.readlines():
-                    if not line == repo:
+                    if line != repo:
                         new_file_contents.append(line)
             new_file_contents = "\n".join(new_file_contents)
             prefix = "avocado_software_manager"
@@ -790,10 +789,12 @@ class AptBackend(DpkgBackend):
 
         if name:
             up_command = 'install --only-upgrade'
-            up_cmd = " ".join([self.base_command, self.dpkg_force_confdef, up_command, name])
+            up_cmd = " ".join([self.base_command, self.dpkg_force_confdef,
+                               up_command, name])
         else:
             up_command = 'upgrade'
-            up_cmd = " ".join([self.base_command, self.dpkg_force_confdef, up_command])
+            up_cmd = " ".join([self.base_command, self.dpkg_force_confdef,
+                               up_command])
 
         try:
             process.system(up_cmd, shell=True, sudo=True)