Installing software in Debian, MEPIS, and Ubuntu

by Administrator 29. June 2009 21:52

The best way to manage software packages in Debian and Debian-based distributions
such as MEPIS and Ubuntu is to use APT — the Advanced
Packaging Tool — that you usually control through the apt-get command.
When you install Debian, one of the last steps is to configure the sources for
APT. The APT sources are the Internet servers (both FTP and Web) where
APT looks for software packages to download and install on your system.
Assuming that APT is properly configured and that your system has a highspeed
Internet connection, you can begin installing any package by typing
the following command in a terminal window: 

apt-get install pkgname

where pkgname is the name of the package that you want to install. If you do
not know the package name, start by typing the following command in the
terminal window:

apt-cache search keyword


where keyword is related to the package you want to install. For example, to
search for a package that has the word screenshot in its description and also
contains the word KDE, I would type the following. (I use grep to search the
output for occurrences of the text KDE.)

apt-cache search screenshot | grep KDE


This command then prints the following line as the result:
ksnapshot - Screenshot application for KDE
This shows that the ksnapshot package is what I need. If this package was
not yet installed, I could then install it by typing the following command:

apt-get install ksnapshot


That, in a nutshell, is how you can use the command-line tools to look for
and install packages in Debian.

 

Tags:

Add comment

  Country flag

biuquote
  • Comment
  • Preview
Loading

About the author

Each morning when I open my eyes I say to myself: I, not events, have the power to make me happy or unhappy today. I can choose which it shall be. Yesterday is dead, tomorrow hasn’t arrived yet. I have just one day, today, and I’m going to be happy in it

Month List

Page List