02 June 2010

Installing applications in Ubuntu using Synaptic Package Manager

GUI: Synaptic Package Manager (SPM)

Screenshot of Synaptic Package Manager

As is cleverly depicted in the above screenshot, there are essentially five areas of the SPM window that concern us:
  1. Reload
  2. Search
  3. Package List
  4. Package Description
  5. Apply

SPM Usage
  1. From the desktop, select: System > Administration > Synaptic Package Manager. If prompted, enter the administrator password then press: Enter. The Synaptic Package Manager window will open.
  2. In the SPM window click: Reload (area 1). This action will reload the package information so that SPM becomes aware of any new, removed or updated software that may be available for your system.
  3. Once SPM has obtained the most recent package information, click: Search (area 2). The Find window will appear.
  4. In the Find window, type: frozen bubble then press: Enter.
  5. The results of your search will be displayed in the Package List (area 3). Scroll through the list and locate the package titled: frozen bubble.
  6. In the Package column, click the frozen bubble package name. This will display additional details of Frozen-Bubble in the Package Description (area 4).
  7. Click the checkbox for the frozen bubble package then click: Mark for Installation. This will open a window listing additional packages that need to be installed in support of our selected application. Click: Mark.
  8. Once you are satisfied with you selections simply click: Apply (area 5). The Summary window will appear. Click: Apply again to start the installation.
  9. Once installation is complete, the Changes Applied window will display. Click: Close then close SPM after it has refreshed. You may now access the newly installed application. In our case Frozen Bubble is located in: Applications > Games. Though this particular application is installed in a fairly obvious location, it is possible that you may not be so lucky with all of your installations. In those instances, a little hunting may be necessary.

For additional information, please refer to the official: SynapticHowto.

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