Installing Programs in Ubuntu

If you're a user of the free operating system Ubuntu, and you're still learning how to use it, then you may be wondering how you would go about installing programs. There are two ways of doing this - I will explain the first and touch on the second, as it varies from program to program.

Begin by logging on to Ubuntu. Open up your applications menu, or just go over to the side of the screen. Find the icon for Ubuntu Software Center.

I use the GNOME environment with faenza icons, so my icon looks like this. If you use Unity (the default), just find the shopping bag icon. Click on the software center and wait for it to open (this can sometimes take a while if you have lots of default programs installed - it helps to get rid of bloatware). You'll be greeted by the software centre, where you can browse and download software to your hearts content - most of it is free! You can also remove programs via the 'installed' tab. Any .deb program files you download can be opened with and installed via the software centre.

Now for the second option. Obviously, many programs wont be in the store. You have to add these programs as 'repositories', which are like packages that contain programs that your Ubuntu computer can easily download from the internet. You will be told to open up the 'Terminal' (like command prompt in Windows) that can be opened by pressing ALT+T, or searching for Terminal. You'll be told which lines of programming code to put into the terminal, then Ubuntu will download the packages. You can then find the programs available to download in the software centre, or you can use a line or two of programming code in the terminal to do this without the software center. You'll get the hang of it - if you're a Windows user, this should be a fresh experience - no one-click-install .exe files here!