Although, at first blush, it might seem the YaST Software Installation tool might be more suited for the power user (at least as far as GUIs are concerned), when you finally examine the tool, you will see otherwise. The OpenSuSE Add/Remove Software tool is easy enough for any experience level. So, with that said, let’s take a look at the YaST Package Manager.

Starting the tool

Figure 1

As I said in the intro, there is more than one way to start this tool: From within YaST itself or from within the main menu (Start > Computer > Install Software). NOTE: If you’re looking for the command line tool, we’ll cover that in another article. When you first start the tool you will have to enter your root password and then the tool will start running through a few checks. Once the tool is up and running, you will be greeted with what should be a fairly familiar window.

The tab that gets focus, by default, is the Installation Summary tab. This shows you every package you currently have installed on your system. If you click on a package you can get plenty of information about that package.

But let’s say you want to install a particular piece of software on your OpenSuSE system. How do you go about doing that? Simple. The first thing you have to do is find the package. Let’s say you want to install the game Frozen Bubble on your OpenSuSE machine. You could do this two different ways.

Figure 2

1. RPM Groups. If you click on the RPM Groups tab you will see all packages grouped together by category (see Figure 2). To find the software you want to install first find the main group (or category) it would fall under. In the case of Frozen Bubble, we would look in the Games group. In some cases a group will hold sub-groups.

Once you have found the software you wish to install, mark it for installation and then click the Accept button. Depending upon what you are installing, you might have to accept an EULA or dependencies.

2. Search. This is simple. Click on the Search tab, enter the package your looking for, mark the results for installation, and click accept. Of course you can narrow your search results by searching for any of the following: Name, keywords, summary, description, RPM provides, RPM requires, or file list.

Patterns

The YaST Package Management system also has a handy feature that allows you to view software by Patterns. Patterns are software packages that are grouped together by function: Graphical Desktop Environment,  Desktop Functions, Base Technologies, Server Functions, Proprietary Software, and Development. From these Patterns you can easily select a piece of software (such as KDE 4 or GNOME) and, with a single click select every piece of software necessary to install that pattern.

Final thoughts

You have now seen how simple the YaST Package Manager is to use. In my next article I will show you how to manage repositories in this same tool so you can further enhance the YaST Add/Remove Software experience.

But can this tool take the place of the original tools? Can the Ubuntu Software Center usurp both Add/Remove Software and Synaptic? Let’s examine the tool and draw our conclusions.

The ultimate goal for the Ubuntu Software Center is to become a single point of focus for software management in Ubuntu. Effectively, the Software Center is going to become the Ubuntu version of the iPhone App Store. Here are the current and planned features:

• Install open source/free software (Version 1).
• Install commercial/non-free software (Version 3).
• Rate and review software (Version 2).
• Replace Synaptic and Gdebi (Version 2).

So by Version 3 the Ubuntu Software Center will be a total one-stop shop for Linux software installation in Ubuntu. Exciting times indeed. But right now we’re at Version 1 and the big question is, does it stand up to previous tools. Let’s take a look.

The interface

Figure 1

When you fire up the Ubuntu Software Center (done by clicking on the entry in the Applications menu) the main window is laid out very clearly (see Figure 1) will be the Banshee (since it has been referenced a number of times on Ghacks.)

To locate Banshee either click on the Sound & Video category (from the main page) or enter “banshee” (no quotes) in the search field and hit Enter.

Figure 2

When the listing appears, select the entry, and click on the right-pointing arrow that appears (see Figure 2). When you click that arrow you will be presented with an information window that allows you to either install the software or visit the software’s web page.

Figure 3

In order to install the selected software, click on the Install button (see Figure 3) which will require you to enter your sudo password. Upon entering your password a new pane will open up showing the progress of the installation. Depending upon the size of the application, this progress could take a while. The speed of the download will also be directly effected by the newness of the 9.10 release and how busy the repositories are.

Once the software is installed you will be returned to the information window that will look a bit different. Where the “Install” button was is now a “Remove” button and, if available, a screenshot will appear.

Adding repositories

Where adding new software sources in Synaptic could be somewhat confusing to new users, adding these same sources in the Software Center has become incredibly easy. All you have to do is follow these steps:

1. Click on the Edit menu.
2. Click the Software Sources entry.
3. Enter your password if you haven’t already authenticated.
4. Click on the Other Software tab in the Sources window.
5. Click the Add button.
6. Enter the entire line (the same line you would add to the /etc/apt/sources.list file in the text area).
7. Click the Add Source button.

You’re done. You no longer have to enter multiple pieces of information for a repository to be added.

Final thoughts

At first I was skeptical about the new Software Center. But after using the tool, and seeing where the tool is heading, I like what I am seeing (and using). I think Ubuntu is going to have a major hit on their hands with the Software Center.

Why do applications like Synaptic exist? Simple. Unlike Microsoft Windows where you have to search site after site for applications, or must purchase the boxed goods, Linux likes to have everything in one place. With tools like synaptic Add/Remove Software actually helps you by keeping a vast software repository in one, easy to use, location. That location is helped with GUI front-ends like Synaptic.

In this article you are going to learn how to add the Debian multimedia repository so you can install packages like Acroread. Naturally this is Linux so there is more than one way to conquer this task. But since we want to show just how easy it can be – we want to avoid the command line completely.

Synaptic Main Window

Before we get to the action I will tell you the actual repository that we are going to add is debian-multimedia.org.

The first step is to fire up Synaptic. You will need root (or sudo) access to do this. You can find Synaptic in the Applications menu under Administration. The menu entry will most likely be labeled Add/Remove Software.

When you fire it up you will see the main Synaptic window. From this window you will need to go to the Settings menu and then select the Repository entry.

When the new window opens you will click the New button to start entering a new repository.

Adding a new repository is very simple.

Adding a Repository

When you click the New button all you will see is a new line has been added. Take a close look at the image to the right. You can see each repository requires the following information:

URL: The actually address of the repository.

Distribution: This is the release name of the distribution you are using or the name of the repository you are adding.

Sections: This is the various sections of the repository you want to add. Not all repositories will have a section.

For our acroreader repository you will enter the following:

• URL: http://www.debian-multimedia.org
• Distribution: lenny (this will depend upon the release and the distribution you are using)
• Sections: main

Once you have added the above click OK and the repository will be added.

Now you have to reload your package information. click Reload to update the package information. You might get an error regarding the new repository GPG key. In the case of the Debian Multimedia repository you only need to click on this link and have Gdebi automatically install the key for you.

Now, once the repositories have reloaded, Acroread will show up in a search in Synaptic. You have sucessfully installed a new repository in Synaptic.

Final Thoughts

It is not often that you will have to add repositories to Synaptic. But there will be the occasion when that special application you want is not included in your current set /etc/apt/sourses.list file. Now you know you can add to that file with little to no trouble.