Ubuntu and its community maintain servers full of software applications that are all compiled to be used in the Ubuntu operating system. These servers are called repositories. Instead of having to go out onto the internet and search for the application that you want, you can simply search for it in the repositories and then install it right from there.

There are several ways to install software from Ubuntu’s software repositories. There are GUI tools, like Synaptic, as well as command line tools like apt and aptitude. I prefer to use aptitude. The reason why I like aptitude is because when you install software from the repositories with it, it keeps track of all the dependencies that were needed for that installation and then removes those dependencies automatically if they are no longer needed after you uninstall the application. The other tools may do this as well, but aptitude is the one I have the most experience with and am most comfortable with.

I generally use the ‘apt-cache’ command to search the repositories, and then use aptitude to install the package once I find it. For example, if I wanted to install the BitTorrent client called Azureus, I would search the repositories for it:

$ apt-cache search azureus

That command would return a response like this:

azureus - BitTorrent client azureus-gcj - BitTorrent client (native code)

So, I see that the package that I want to install is just called ‘azureus’. I would then install it with this command:

$ sudo aptitude install azureus

That’s it! It automatically installs it, and then I’m ready to go. Once the installation finishes, I would launch it by clicking the Gnome Application menu, then Internet, then Azureus.

So, now that you’ve had a brief introduction to how Ubuntu’s software repositories work, here is a list of the software packages that I install right away on a fresh Ubuntu installation:

bum – Boot Up Manager, graphical runlevel editor that helps you control the ’services’ that start when you start your machine
build-essential – a package of various compilers that are needed when installing certain applications, etc
nvidia-glx – the 3d NVidia driver for my video card
msttcorefonts – Microsoft native fonts, such as Arial, Comic Sans, etc. These fonts are used by various web pages, etc
ssh – Secure shell client and server, I use ssh to access my machine from work. It gives me both command line access as well as FTP-style access via SCP
gaim-extendedprefs – a plugin for GAIM that gives it more functionality, like hiding the buddy list automatically on sign-on
fast-user-switch-applet – Applet used to switch between user accounts
beep-media-player – a nice MP3 player, basically a Winamp clone
mail-notification – an applet that sits in your notification area and lets you know when you have new mail
unrar – adds the ability to handle rar files to the Gnome archive manager
par2 – utility to handle parity files
wine – Microsoft Windows Compatibility Layer, you can install and use some Windows applications with this
mpg123 – package needed to allow you to preview an MP3 file by holding your mouse over it
xchat – IRC client
xchat-systray – a plugin that allows you to minimize xchat to your notification area
mplayer – my favorite movie player
vmware-player – allows you to run VMWare images
gftp – FTP client
soundconverter – converts FLAC (and others) to MP3 (and others)
xinetd – replacement for inetd with many enhancements, needed for some applications
frozen-bubble – the best game ever?
neverball – the second-best game ever?

Various Codecs for multimedia playback:
gstreamer0.8-plugins
gstreamer0.8-lame
gstreamer0.8-ffmpeg
lame
sox
ffmpeg
mjpegtools
vorbis-tools
gstreamer0.10-plugins-ugly-multiverse

So, above I have listed 31 software packages that I install right off the bat in a new Ubuntu installation. Sounds like a lot of work…but it’s not! I install all 31 of these applications in one step using the following command that I keep saved in a text file:

$ sudo aptitude install bum build-essential nvidia-glx msttcorefonts gstreamer0.8-plugins gstreamer0.8-lame gstreamer0.8-ffmpeg lame sox ffmpeg mjpegtools vorbis-tools ssh frozen-bubble gaim-extendedprefs fast-user-switch-applet beep-media-player mail-notification unrar par2 wine neverball mpg123 xchat xchat-systray mplayer vmware-player gftp gstreamer0.10-plugins-ugly-multiverse soundconverter xinetd

That command goes out and finds each one of those application and installs it automatically on my machine. Once that command finishes running, all of those applications are then available for me to use.