Advanced Package Management

Several other package managers exist in Xubuntu. These contain more advanced features than Ubuntu Software Center.

Synaptic Package Manager

Synaptic Package Manager is an advanced package management application that can install and remove every package available to your system. The interface is graphical like Ubuntu Software Center, but displays much more information and gives you complete control over the software on your computer.

To launch Synaptic Package Manager, press ApplicationsSystemSynaptic Package Manager. You will need administrative access to use it; see Administrative Tasks for more details.

See the Synaptic manual for more information on managing packages with Synaptic Package Manager.

Command-line Package Management With APT

If you are comfortable using the Terminal, you can use apt (Advanced Packaging Tool) to install or remove software. You need administrative access to use apt; see Administrative Tasks for more details.

To update the local list of packages, enter in a Terminal:

sudo apt-get update

To install all available updates:

sudo apt-get upgrade

To search for a package:

apt-cache search package

To install a package:

sudo apt-get install package

To remove a package:

sudo apt-get remove package

To remove a package and all its dependencies (that are not in use by other programs):

sudo apt-get autoremove package

To list other apt commands and options:

apt-get help

For more information, see the Debian apt manual and the apt-get manual page.