Translations by Heikki Mäntysaari

Adding, Removing and Updating Applications

Credits and License

This document is maintained by the Ubuntu documentation team (https://wiki.ubuntu.com/DocumentationTeam). For a list of contributors, see the <ulink type="help" url="help:/kubuntu/contributors.html">contributors page</ulink>

This document is made available under the Creative Commons ShareAlike 2.5 License (CC-BY-SA).

You are free to modify, extend, and improve the Ubuntu documentation source code under the terms of this license. All derivative works must be released under this license.

This documentation is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AS DESCRIBED IN THE DISCLAIMER.

A copy of the license is available here: <ulink type="help" url="help:/kubuntu/ccbysa.html">Creative Commons ShareAlike License</ulink>.

Canonical Ltd. and members of the Ubuntu Documentation Project

The Ubuntu Documentation Project

This chapter is a complete guide to adding, removing and updating applications on a Kubuntu system.

Universe and Multiverse Repositories by Default

Introduction

There are several ways to manage your applications in Kubuntu. In order to add or remove applications you need to use a <emphasis>package manager</emphasis>. The following package managers are described in this chapter:

(<menuchoice><guimenu>KMenu</guimenu><guimenuitem>Add/Remove Programs</guimenuitem></menuchoice>) - The simplest way to add or remove programs.

apt

A text-based, high-level interface to <application>apt</application>.

Finally, this chapter explains how to update your system.

You can only have one package management application running at a time. For example, if you are running <application>Add/Remove Programs</application> and try to launch <application>Adept</application>, it will fail with an error. Close the running application before you relaunch the new one.

<application>Add/Remove Programs</application> is a simple graphical way of installing and removing applications in Kubuntu. To launch <application>Add/Remove Programs</application>, choose <menuchoice><guimenu>KMenu</guimenu><guimenuitem>Add/Remove Programs</guimenuitem></menuchoice> from the desktop menu system.

Running <application>Add/Remove Programs</application> requires administrative privileges.

To install new applications select the category on the left, then check the box of the applications you want to install. Click <guimenu>Apply</guimenu> and your chosen programs will be downloaded and installed automatically, as well as installing any additional applications that are required. The default selection is restricted to the KDE suite, but GNOME applications can be installed by selecting them from the dropdown menu at the top.

Alternatively, if you know the name of the program you want, use the <guibutton>Search</guibutton> tool at the top.

Adept Package Manager

<application>Adept</application> is a graphical frontend to the <application>APT</application> package management system for the K Desktop Environment (KDE). <application>Adept</application> provides an easy-to-use interface with which users can perform software management operations.

Starting <application>Adept</application>

From KMenu

From the command line type <userinput>kdesu adept_manager</userinput> and press <keycap>Enter</keycap>. When prompted for a password type your user password and press <guibutton>OK</guibutton>.

Both methods require that you enter your password. This will run <application>Adept</application> with root privileges which will be required in order to perform the requested operations. It is therefore advised that you use <application>Adept</application> with caution since improper usage could lead to the removal, deletion, or corruption of software packages that are required to preserve system integrity.

Installing an application using the Adept Manager

From within the <application>Adept Manager</application> utilize the <guilabel>Search</guilabel> text box underneath the toolbar by typing in what you are searching for.

Once you have located the application you wish to install, select the package and press the <guibutton>Request Install</guibutton> button. You can also <mousebutton>right</mousebutton> click on the package and select <guilabel>Request Install</guilabel> from the menu.

After installation has completed close <application>Adept Manager</application>.

APT

<application>APT</application> (Advanced Packaging Tool) is a powerful package management system, on which the graphical programs <application>Add/Remove Programs</application> and <application>Adept</application> are based. <application>APT</application> automatically handles dependencies and performs other operations on system packages to allow the installation of the desired packages.

Running <application>APT</application> requires administrative privileges.

Some common commands that can be used with <application>APT</application>:

Install packages: <screen>sudo apt-get install <emphasis>packagename</emphasis></screen>

Remove packages: <screen>sudo apt-get remove <emphasis>packagename</emphasis></screen>

Search for packages: <screen>apt-cache search <emphasis>keyword</emphasis></screen>

Retrieve new lists of available packages: <screen>sudo apt-get update</screen>

Upgrade system with available updates: <screen>sudo apt-get dist-upgrade</screen>

List further commands and options: <screen>apt-get help</screen>

For further information about the use of <application>APT</application>, you can read the comprehensive <ulink url="http://www.debian.org/doc/user-manuals#apt-howto">Debian APT User Manual</ulink>.

<application>Aptitude</application> is another command line front end to <application>apt</application>. <application>Aptitude</application> allows you to interactively choose packages for removal or installation from a list of available packages. <application>Aptitude</application> allows for a more advanced approach and at times a more functional approach to managing applications via the command line.

Manual Installation

Although the preferred method of installing programs is via the package managers described in <xref linkend="add-applications"/>, you can also download and install individual package files containing software. There are many different kinds of Linux package files. Most of these are associated with the package managers of specific Linux distributions.

If you find a packaged application that you wish to install, it is recommended that you check if there is a native Kubuntu package of the application available through a package manager, and that you install that version instead. This guarantees that the program is completely compatible with your system. If there is no package available through the package manager, you can install it manually. The installation procedure depends on the type of package file.

Installation of Alien

Locate the <guilabel>Search</guilabel> box just under the buttons at the top of the window and type <userinput>alien</userinput>.

Locate the package named <application>alien</application> and select it. Press the <guibutton>Request Install</guibutton> button.