Installing Programs in Linux – It’s No Longer Difficult

By S Austin

There are quite a few myths that are still common today about the Linux operating system. One of these myths is that programs are very difficult to install.

There was a time in Linux when you had to do something called compiling a program. This involved going to the terminal and manually installing all of the files. If you did this incorrectly, the program would not load. If you needed another program installed to make this one work, you would have no idea what to do. You had to do intensive research to make sure you had all the dependencies installed. It really a serious pain and much too difficult for even an expert computer user.

This misery is still remembered by many who will tell others that installing programs in Linux is simply too hard to do. Today, after about a decade of improvements (which in computer years is quite a bit) installing programs in Linux is easy. In fact, it might be easier than what most people are used to with their current systems.

Most versions of Linux have some sort of package manager. This means that a group of people have checked certain programs to make sure they work, maintain all the updates for you, and make sure all the dependencies will install when you want to put an application on your computer.

In Ubuntu, you open the Applications menu and click on Add/Remove. Search for the program you want to install. Check a box. Then hit Apply Changes. That’s it. As you can see, this is a very simple process. To remove the program you just uncheck the box and hit Apply Changes and it’s gone. That’s easy enough for almost anyone to do. Additionally, you know these packages and programs are safe for your computer since a human being has manually approved them for your computer.

Whether using Linux or your operating system of choice, make sure to get the best business web hosting available. Don’t take chances with your business website.

Recently my nephew came to visit and brought his computer. It was running WinXP and he said the CD drives were broken, and it needed a new motherboard! Well, since he’s only 12 his diagnosis was understandably quite a bit off. There’s no need to pay a technician huge sums of money to “fix” this broken system, with my trusty case full of live Linux discs I was ready to start.

First, we booted into Windows– It did not recognize the CD drives in the computer, Device Manager reported a problem with the drivers, indicated by yellow exclamation points.

Now, normally a casual Windows user would have to start jumping through hoops trying to figure out how to fix the drivers problem, but in this case he was done with Windows, what with all the spyware and general instability problems, and he was ready to give Linux a try. So, we turned off the PC, let it sit for 10 seconds, then turned it on, inserted the Linux Live disc (Ubuntu 9.10 Karmic Koala), and booted up into Linux.

Some argue that Windows is inherently easier to use than Linux, while that may have been true 15 years ago before the Graphical User Interface became increasingly popular for Linux distros, nowadays there are new advantages to the less-savvy computer to really like about Linux.

For instance, look at this example about problems with drivers for CD-ROM drives. Most Linux distros come complete with CD-ROM drivers, video drivers, USB device drivers (Like my Linksys Wireless-G stick) which has never been the case with Microsoft’s Windows. When you first install Windows on a PC you aren’t done yet–Oh no, it will probably a couple hours for you to track down all the proper drivers for your system. Linux- put your Live CD in the drive, boot up and go!

And, if you want to add more software to your Linux system, you have the convenience of Package Managers.  All the biggest Linux distros have thousands of all different types of applications available from games, to business, to development specifically put together for that particular distro. For instance, Ubuntu has over 20,000 different programs known as “packages” that are each uniquely tailored to your particular ditribution. Package managers resolve dependency problems which have historically plagued operating systems like Linux because there were specific versions of individual files required by some programs that weren’t already installed on the system, resulting in problems.

Getting out of the “Windows mindset” gives one the freedom to expand his horizons when it comes to getting the most out of one’s computer system with the least cost.