Table of Contents

Synaptic package manager in Linux infographics basic Linux tools guide part 3

What is the Synaptic Package Manager

Synaptic is a popular graphical package manager for new as well as pro users for managing apps/software. It provides an easy UI with search filters for searching software and allows easy software installation. It also selects and installs dependencies automatically for selected packages. Also helps to solve issues like broken packages.

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How to install Synaptic Package Manager

Using Apt Tool. Enter below command

sudo apt install synaptic

2. From Deb Package

Link to downloads https://pkgs.org/download/synaptic

Uses of Synaptic Package Manager

Synaptic has a number of use case like :

For installing packages that are not already available in a system
Updating installed packages in Linux
Removal of packages completely from the system
To fix broken packages and dependencies
Searching packages by filters like name, type
To list all packages by status like installed, to be installed.
To add/remove software repositories for packages not available already.

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Some terms related to Synaptic package manager in Linux

DEB

DEB is short for Debian package format which is used to install packages in Debian based OS like Ubuntu, Debian, Mint. Anyone can download and install a package using a Deb package.

Repository

A source where package related code is hosted on. Let say I want to install a package, so first, I need to add that repository where software can be downloaded from. Repository or repo as short can be added by apt/synaptic, they can be public as well as private.

Broken Packages

A package let say vlc requires many other video libraries for data processing and streaming. Sometimes there is a dependency that can not be found or installed. so a package is said to be broken. Another cause may be because an incompatible version of dependencies installed.

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