Real World Linux – Supported And Community Apps

In this series I’m going to covers the ins and outs of using Linux as your primary home computer operating system. It will cover in a realistic sense what you can and moreover cannot do with it.

This is not going to be a technical explanation of how the Linux file system works but rather it’s immediate differences between it and Windows.

Something very unique to Linux is in the way apps are deployed.

For major retail operating systems like Microsoft Windows and Apple Mac OS X, many apps are available for sale off-the-shelf. However in the Linux world almost all the apps you use are acquired via online only.

In addition, Linux apps are usually acquired via repositories. While it’s true you can download the apps you want from individual web sites, most people who use Linux prefer file repositories because the app installs itself properly the first time if you download/install it that way – and the appropriate menu choice is installed as well (the same as if the app were available from the “Start” menu in Windows).

You will both love and hate this.

You’ll love it because it makes installing and uninstalling apps a whole lot easier.

You’ll hate it because if it’s not in the repository you’re more of less forced to install things via the command line.

Where it gets a tad confusing is understanding the differences between supported and community applications.

Using the way Ubuntu does this as an example:

When you go to Add/Remove in Ubuntu, a window opens up that allows you to search, check off and download the apps you want. By default the apps shown are the supported apps.

What does this mean?

It means that any app in this list has officially been deemed “good” by the people who make Ubuntu and is known to work properly. In addition, if there is an update deployed to the file repository for the apps you have installed from there, you will be notified there’s an update periodically (similar to a Windows update except for apps) and can download/update it easily with no issues. For example, if a Firefox update is posted to the repository, you will be notified and have the option to update.

You’ll also notice that in Add/Remove there’s an option (at the top right of the window) to select “3rd Party” or “World” apps. This will include apps that are community supported. These programs are in separate repositories.

What does this mean?

It means that those apps are technically not supported by the people who make Ubuntu. Yes, they will most likely work – but not guaranteed to work. In addition, any app you get may or may not be included in the periodic auto-updates (most likely not).

How should you go about installing apps then?

The best way to go about installing apps – in Ubuntu anyway – is to always have the “Supported” option selected when searching for apps you want to download and use. These apps are “good”, supported and periodically updated.

You should only select “3rd Party”, “World” or “All” if you can’t find what you’re looking for via the Supported choices.

Up next: Getting Windows apps to work in Linux.