Are there alternatives to software center?

Question

Are there any GUI alternatives to the Ubuntu Software Center with

Fast application loading/Low startup time
Fast search
Low weight/size
Application purchase facility

score 39 · Accepted Answer · edited Sep 05 '13 at 22:08

39

Yes, there is an alternative to the Ubuntu Software Center named appgrid. It's a very lightweight application center for Ubuntu and it will let you purchase applications too. You can install it in Ubuntu with these following commands:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:appgrid/stable
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install appgrid

It was only a 100KB download for me.

Comparison between appgrid and Ubuntu Software Center:

Feature                                                | appgrid  | Ubuntu Software Center
-------------------------------------------------------+----------+-----------------------
Programming language                                   | Python 3 | Python 2
Warm start to home screen                              | 2.7s     | 20s
Warm start to details screen (eg opening an apt: link) | 2.3s     | 30s
Full database build                                    | 58s      | 6min24
Initial database size                                  | 36.7MB   | 96.5MB
Memory usage after startup to home screen              | 20MB     | 53.6MB
Lines of code (including tests)                        | 5900     | 56960

You can sign in with Ubuntu One ID also:

Ubuntu One sign in screenshot

appgrid screenshot

edited Sep 05 '13 at 22:08

Flimm

41,766

answered Aug 31 '13 at 14:22

Raja G

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@Flimm Thats really looking nice my friend,:) . How did you do that ? – Raja G Sep 06 '13 at 01:57
1

I think it was with this website here. Use tabs to create a new column. Make sure to bookmark it! – kiri Sep 06 '13 at 23:31
@minerz029: I actually used a plug-in for Vim called Tabular, but that website looks useful, thanks! – Flimm Sep 08 '13 at 07:15
Thank you! I have tried upgrading and updating my install of Ubuntu 16.04. I have no PPA's in my sources list, and I just can't make Ubuntu Software work. Since AppGrid is so small I decided to try it out, and it works great! – Hee Jin Apr 08 '18 at 01:30

score 28 · Answer 2 · edited Oct 01 '13 at 12:54

28

You can use synaptic , a front-end for apt-get.

edited Oct 01 '13 at 12:54

Raja G

102,391
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answered Aug 31 '13 at 14:26

Svyatoslav

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7

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This is not application store - synaptic is a GUI package manager which allows you search and install packages from public repositories. Review this article for more details http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_repository – Svyatoslav Sep 02 '13 at 20:01

score 17 · Answer 3 · answered Sep 03 '13 at 19:39

17

Yes. Try the Lubuntu Software Center. It is very fast and light-weight.

sudo apt-get install lubuntu-software-center

enter image description here

answered Sep 03 '13 at 19:39

Exeleration-G

7,655

Best option in the list. Simple and usable. It allows to remove lot of "leftover" apps, including unity and gnome built-in software. (but pay attention to what you're removing!) – FedFranz Jan 16 '18 at 19:06

blade19899 · Answer 4 · 2015-01-15T08:37:26.283

I noticed that deepin software-center is not on this list...

deepin-screenshot-1

deepin-screenshot-2

deepin-screenshot-3

Features:

There is a regularly updated list of featured applications on the home page. The list of recommendations are produced based on user ratings.
The Software Repository gives you a handy way to choose and install desired applications with just one click. With a powerful multi-threaded download back-end, they are available to you for fast download, limited only by your network connection.
Update manager helps you make sure your operating system has the latest and greatest software installed. All the updates are available for free!
Uninstalling applications that you no longer need gives you an opportunity to have a cleaner working environment.
Comes with 9 pre-installed colorful skins, so you can select one that brightens your day!
Cleanup cached packages to gain more space
Open download location and refresh application list
We have added official Ubuntu sources for fast downloads

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:noobslab/deepin-sc
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install deepin-software-center

Reference:

Linux Deepin - Features

score 13 · Answer 5 · answered Aug 31 '13 at 18:32

13

You can try to familiarize yourself with the command lines: Searching:

apt-cache search wesnoth

This will often yield many results, so it is useful to pipe eg to less or to use grep to search further:

apt-cache search wesnoth |less

Search in all descriptions for FTP, show only the matches which have FTP in the package description

apt-cache search FTP |grep FTP |less

Installing:

sudo apt-get install wesnoth

Removing:

sudo apt-get remove wesnoth

answered Aug 31 '13 at 18:32

johanvdw

1,001

-1. The user specifically asks for GUI solutions. – landroni Mar 07 '14 at 10:09
1

@landroni +1. sometimes users need to be educated and do not know what they want :-) – Rinzwind Jan 15 '15 at 08:44

score 6 · Answer 6 · answered Aug 31 '13 at 18:37

There is Muon Software Center (muon-installer), default Kubuntu software manager.

You can install it in Ubuntu, but it'll probably have a lot of Qt and KDE dependencies.

I recommend you aptitude, it's similar to apt-get but it has a very easy to use CLI.

You can always use synaptic, it's fairly easy to use and very powerful.

score 3 · Answer 7 · edited Nov 05 '18 at 11:55

3

sudo aptitude is my personal favorite, used in the command line, very quick response on my 500mhz command line system.

sudo aptitude

You can also do it without sudo or root, but you can only view packages installed and search for packages.

edited Nov 05 '18 at 11:55

agc

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answered Sep 03 '13 at 22:27

Jared

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score 3 · Answer 8 · answered Feb 13 '16 at 04:08

3

I noticed nobody mentioned gnome-software

It will replace software-center in 16.04, but I quite like software-center itself.

answered Feb 13 '16 at 04:08

WinMacLinUser

456

It is available on 14.04 as well – WinMacLinUser Feb 15 '16 at 06:05
I researched in repo and online but couldn't find it. Then, I found this discussion on Ubuntu MATE forum, one user quoted that "Should have mentioned, this is for 16.04 only. I'm not aware if there's plans to backport it to 14.04." The user who added testing PPA to 14.04 had errors. – Feb 15 '16 at 06:12

score 2 · Answer 9 · edited Apr 13 '17 at 12:24

If you just want to search for Ubuntu applications in the Ubuntu official repositories, you can browse the official "Apps" website: https://apps.ubuntu.com/

Here you can also quicly see screenshots and reviews for every app.

To install an app, you can just click the "Available in the Software Center" button in app detail page, using the "apt:" protocol.

Here you can find info about apt links:

Or you can just install the found package with synaptic or directly with command line sudo apt-get install <name>, as reported in other answers.

apps.ubuntu.com has been replaced by snapcraft.io and only offers snap apps. So it is not useful for people who use Ubuntu without snaps — ManSamVampire, Dec 16 '20 at 13:22

score 2 · Answer 10 · answered Sep 05 '13 at 18:06

2

You can try this:

Appnr : A web based software center

This is a website which primarily uses the functionality of apt-url to install apps on Ubuntu.

More details find here : How to Download??

answered Sep 05 '13 at 18:06

Praveenks

152

score 1 · Answer 11 · answered Jun 07 '22 at 05:41

1

there is bauh store:

Graphical user interface for managing your Linux applications. Supports AppImage, Debian packages, Flatpak, Snap and native Web applications

to install read the installation guide

answered Jun 07 '22 at 05:41

matan h

117

score 1 · Answer 12 · answered Sep 04 '13 at 11:45

If you have enabled online search on Unity, your able to search for an app in the Unity App scope, under « More Suggestions ». Right click on the app and you'll see the description (aka Preview mode). And you've the ability to install the app from here, very quickly

score 1 · Answer 13 · answered Sep 05 '13 at 22:21

You can use aptitude (if it counts). It should be pre-installed with your system but otherwise you can install it using apt-get :

apt-get install aptitude

And then it should be fine.

Note: I didn't do any research before writing this answer, so some parts can be wrong.

score 1 · Answer 14 · edited Apr 13 '17 at 12:24

1

There is also mintinstall, avaliable from the Linux Mint repos

See How to add Linuxmint repositories to Ubuntu?

edited Apr 13 '17 at 12:24

Community

1

answered Feb 15 '16 at 03:31

WinMacLinUser

456

As Linux Mint is off-topic here, I am downvoting this answer as it does not provide an alternative to the Ubuntu software center, equipped with access to the official Ubuntu repositories. – Feb 15 '16 at 06:01
1

The Mnt package manager can access the Ubuntu repos and it is an alternative fully compatible with Ubuntu. – WinMacLinUser Feb 15 '16 at 06:04
Then, if you edit your question to walk to the user through the installation and usage of mintinstall, I will reverse my downvote. – Feb 15 '16 at 06:19
1

i'v made a github gist that explains how to install mintinstall store on ubuntu – matan h Apr 13 '22 at 14:04

score 0 · Answer 15 · answered Mar 14 '16 at 00:30

0

There is gnome-packagekit as well. It is easy to install multiple apps at once with the checkboxes. If you have used gnome-app-install (Add/Remove) on version prior to 9.10, it works it pretty much the same way.

answered Mar 14 '16 at 00:30

WinMacLinUser

456

Are there alternatives to software center?

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