1 of 3

Write now Article Tools

Page 2 of 3

software by just clicking on them. Another graphical way to install software is by using your package manager. On Ubuntu the package manager is called synaptic and can be found by browsing to system>Administration>Synaptic Package Manager. This package manager is not as easy to navigate as the Add/Remove software browser but it has a lot more of the little thing you can install, which the average Linux user may not know what half the things are in synaptic, but you can still do a search for lets say "FireFox" and then install it by clicking the check box next to it. If you want to install FireFox for example not through synaptic package manager or through add/remove software then open a terminal and type, "sudo apt-get install firefox" without the quotes. the sudo command is giving the computer root privileges to be able to make an installation. Apt-get command is telling the computer you want to get software then after apt-get where you typed FireFox you can replace that with any program in any of your repositories and it will download and install it. After typing this command and hitting enter to run it you may be prompted asking if you really want to install it, just type the letter y and hit enter again and it will be installed.

For software not located in the repositories that your Linux distribution manages and comes with you can easily add more repositories.There are two ways to add repositories one is graphical and the other is by terminal. In Ubuntu you can add a software repository by navigating to System>Administration>Software Sources. Once that opens pick the "Third-Party Software" tab and click the "add" button. Then copy and paste in your repository address. A repository address will look something like this: deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubun tu/ hardy main. You may have to add multiple repositories for certain software. The other way to add repositories is by using terminal and your favorite text editor. For my example we will use gedit as the text editor. To add a repository via terminal open a terminal and type "sudo gedit /etc/apt/sources.list". This will open a text document and you just need to paste your repository to the bottom. Once a repository is added you can install the software via synaptic package manager or via terminal with a sudo apt-get install.

The last and final way of installing software is compiling it yourself. This method will be the most confusing for people who are new to Linux. To do this you must obtain your software's

• << previous page
• 1
• 2
• 3
• next page >>

Add your voice

Know something about How to install Linux applications?
We want to hear your view. Write now!