Linux package managers and repos

Question

I am very new to linux and I have some questions about linux pacakage managers and repos out of curiosity. I needed to download KiCad for my Ubuntu system, so I go to their website https://www.kicad.org/download/ubuntu/ and find the terminal commands, enter them and download the software. In the site, you can see they they added the package from the ppa repo. Why is this necessary when I can directly do a sudo apt install kicad? I ran search on my terminal sudo apt search "kicad" and the software is already on apt. enter image description here

It says kicad is already installed on my system because I installed it using ppa but even before I installed using ppa, it is available on apt.

What is the use of adding the package from the ppa repo when the software is already on apt? Does it matter from where I install?

Does this answer your question? Are PPAs safe to add to my system and what are some "red flags" to watch out for? You're right. This software is already in repositories. You didn't need to add a PPA (and probably shouldn't have). Devs will often maintain a PPA so people can download latest and/or beta versions. That's not always the best choice. See also: Why don't repos have the latest version of software. — Nmath, Jul 17 '22 at 07:03
Package tools will install the latest version from your sources unless you specify a version. Users usually add 3rd party sources (PPA's where security checks are all on you) to get newer versions of software/packages... the cost being you've taken over security etc. yourself. — guiverc, Jul 17 '22 at 07:07

score 1 · Answer 1 · answered Jul 17 '22 at 07:16

1

You can install software from Ubuntu repositories using apt.

If some software is not there, or you want another version, you can add some PPA and install it from there the same way.

answered Jul 17 '22 at 07:16

Pilot6

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Linux package managers and repos

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