This is an article for all the ones that are new to Ubuntu or any Debian based Linux Distribution. In this article I will show you how to install software on your distribution in all ways I know. I like to start off with the command line interface and finish up with the graphical tools.
dpkg: This tool is mostly been used to installed deb packages you have downloaded from somewhere of the Internet. First of all I don’t recommend installing packages from the Internet unless you know what you are doing. The repositories are huge and offer a vast variety of applications. See below how to use it to install a deb package.
apt-get: This tool is been used to install software from the Ubuntu/Debian repositories and you need to know the name is the application or the package you like to install. It can also been used for updating the repositories information on you local system and upgrade all installed packages. It does not offer a build in functions to search the repositories but you can use the apt-cache tool to do just that. See below how to search for a package and install it.
aptitude: This tool is menu driven and offers everything that apt-get and apt-cache do and more all in one tool. Start the tool by entering sudo aptitude and you will see something like below. It will displays some information like how many packages can be upgraded and so on.
After you hit the / key a search field opens up and you can search for a software like filezilla. By using the + you can mark a package for installation and - for removal/uninstall and by hitting g twice you can confirm the install or removal.
Synaptic: This tool is the graphical version of aptitude you can search for software and update installed software. This tool is pretty intuitive to use so I will not further elaborate it.
Update Manger: This is a tool to update all installed software and it will check by default daily for available updates. It can also been used to upgrade the entire distribution. If an distribution upgrade is available it will be displayed.
Software Center: This is the latest and greatest available on all Ubuntu/Debian distribution. You can search for software and install it that way. It will provide a rating system and reviews from users who have installed it. This tool also makes it possible to purchase software and magazines. Just look around this one is also pretty intuitive to use.
gdebi: This is an integration of synaptic or similar into the file browser and allows you to installed deb packages directly through your file browser just double click the deb file and you will see something like the picture below.
I hope that this was helpful and that this will get you started to use Ubuntu successfully. If you have further question please make use of the Forum or post a comment.
