Linux apropos command always returns "nothing appropriate"
Solution 1:
Try executing 'makewhatis' as root. That updates the man page database, and creates it if it doesn't already exist, which it may not on a fresh installation.
'updatedb' updates the database for 'locate', and probably isn't related to this issue.
Solution 2:
sudo mandb solved the problem for me. It regenerates the apropos database, but you have to make sure you run it with sudo.