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How to Search, Download and Install Software on Linux Using Ubuntu – Guide
If you’ve been using Linux for a long period of time, you’ll quickly discover that there are many different ways to do the same thing. This includes installing applications on a Linux machine from the command line. I’ve been a Linux user for about 25 years and I always go back to the command line to install my apps.
The most common method of installing applications from the command line is via software repositories (a place where software is stored) using something called a package manager. All Linux applications are distributed as packages, which are nothing more than files associated with a package management system. Every Linux distribution comes with a package management system, but not all are created equal.
Ubuntu Software Center
For a long time, people believed that the Linux operating system is only for geeks who are glued to the terminal, issuing commands at the speed of light. No more. Linux has come a long way, and if you’re a GUI person, don’t worry. Ubuntu Software Center is a great option for installing and managing software packages in general. The Ubuntu Software Center GUI typically looks like the following. On the top bar you have four main buttons: On the left is an option to search for software packages.
The three buttons in the center of the screen are used to explore new software, list installed software, or check for software updates. Installing software in the Ubuntu Software Center is simple. Select the package you want to install and click install button.
APT
APT is short for Advanced Package Tool, it is not just a package installer, it is a complete package manager. You can use APT to install, update, remove, and even search for software packages, etc. The most common and simplest way to install packages via apt is to run the following command: apt install package_name. For example, to install the famous nano editor, just run it.
Synaptic Package Manager
Synaptic is another powerful GUI-based software package manager. If you don’t have Synaptic installed on your PC, you can install it by running the following command.
Once Synaptic is installed, you can launch it from the GUI. Then select the software you want to install by checking the installation box and click apply. The installation GUI should look like below.
Downloadable packages
One of the most common ways to install software on Ubuntu is via .deb packages. First, download the package from a software source and then install it using any of the methods below. There are three main ways to install .deb software packages.
Installing with APT
If you have a .deb package on your local computer, you can simply install it via the APT command line tool. For example, to install the Virtual Box software which is located in the Downloads folder. First make cd in the Downloads folder.
Once in the package location folder, you can use the following sudo apt install ./package_name.deb command format. For example, to install the virtual box you can run.
Also, the above command will install all necessary software dependencies for the package you are installing.
installing with dpkg
Dpkg is the main software packaging tool in Debian based Linux distros. Installing packages via dpkg is very simple and follows the following format.
After the above command, you need to solve the software dependency problems by running the following command. Unlike installing the .deb package via apt, the dpkg tool will not automatically resolve dependencies. The command below tells the apt package manager to fix broken dependencies for all packages currently installed on the system.
Installing via the GUI
Last but not least, you can install .deb software packages by simply double clicking on the .deb file. This will open the file in the Ubuntu software center and then just click install from the GUI menu.
Compiling from source code
THE final the option we will cover is to install the software from source code. That is, you download the software source code and compile it. Unlike the other installation methods we’ve looked at so far, this one is probably the most demanding, but it’s worth it. As most Linux packages are free and open source, you can modify the source code of any software and change it according to your preference. Also, you might just be interested in learning good architecture and coding patterns from large software projects.
We’ll go through the main steps of building your own software with an example build from git, the famous version control system.
We want to place the software’s source code in the Downloads folder, but you can use any other location, cd to the Downloads folder using the following.
Once in the download folder, you can download the git source code using curl as follows.
Source code is usually packaged in a zipped folder. You can extract it using tar with the following command
Then cd the extracted folder, in this case it is git-2.26.2. Typically, you can get more information about installing the package by opening and reading the README.md file located in the source code root folder.
Configure and prepare your source code using the following command. The command will create make and configuration files for the software we are about to install.
Now that everything is set up, we can compile the software using the following command in the source code root folder.
The build process will take a while, but once it’s complete, we’re all ready to install our newly built software.
You can test whether git has been successfully installed in the following way.
Final note
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