Apt-get Command
Now we are going to talk about how you can install individual programs. The thing that you have to remember with Linux is that this is an open source world. Most of the software is free, or you pay for it in weird ways like service agreements and such. In the Windows world, everything has to go through activation procedures.
So, whether you are using Quickbooks, Adobe, or Microsoft software itself, everybody is worried that somebody is going to pirate or steal a product. To prevent their software from being pirated, they put in these insane activation procedures that require you to have the CD with the correct CD key, etc. And then beyond that, once it is installed with the right code, you then have to go off and hit some activation server so that the creators of the software can verify your installation.
In Linux, they are able to create things called repositories. Repositories are places on the Internet that just house thousands upon thousands of Linux programs. So instead of having to have a disk of some sort, you can just go to that repository and install the application from there.
In Windows or Mac OS, you have to have a CD or DVD of the software. If you lose that disk, you are screwed. In Linux, all the software, or a huge portion of the software is out sitting in these repositories. You can just go and grab software from these repositories as long as you have Internet connection. This is the easiest way to install software on the Linux platform.
There are other ways to install applications in Linux, and we will talk about them in the later posts. But for now, since we are still discussing the basics, we will just focus on installing from repositories.
So basically, within a Linux computer, there is already a configuration file that tells that Linux computer where the repositories are. When your run the apt-get command, this apt-get command will go out to the repository and it will get whatever program it is that you want to get and install it for you.
To correctly execute an apt-get command, just type in the syntax below:
$ sudo apt-get install <name of program>
Let’s say you want to install the Apache2 program in your server. Simply type in the command below:
$ sudo apt-get install Apache2
After you type the above command and press ENTER, Linux will then go out to the repository sitting on the Internet, find the Apache2 program, and then install it on your Linux computer. It’s that easy.
Now, let’s say you decide that you do not want Apache2 and you want to use a different web server instead. Well, the command the uninstall Apache2 is:
$ sudo apt-get remove Apache2
This will go in and uninstall Apache2 from your Linux computer. It’s that simple. This is how you install and uninstall most of the software that you are going to need for your Linux server. Once you get better and you gain more experience in using Linux, you will start buying proprietary software in the Linux world.
You may buy special backup software, or maybe a special security software. Some of these types of programs may not be in the repositories, and you may have to go through different steps in order to install those programs. But for 99% of the programs that anybody ever installs for Linux, this apt-get command will work.
There are thousands and thousands of Linux programs in these repositories. Figuring out what programs you want to install can be a little bit tricky. If you do not know what are the best programs to have in your Linux computer, the best thing to do would be to make a Google search about it. You’ll find many recommended Linux programs out there that are great for beginners.
As you probably know by now, everybody pokes fun at the people behind Microsoft Windows because they always have these updates. Every third day of the week or every month you get at least 10 updates for your system. Many people say that these updates are proof that Microsoft is crap. However, the reality is every single operating system or software needs to get updated once in a while. The same is true with Linux.
So, once you install all the software that you want on your Linux server and you want to update them, all you need to do is use the upgrade command. See the syntax below:
$ sudo apt-get upgrade
