-4

I do not focus specifically on how to install but the taxonomy of installations, so I am not aiming at some practical usage but the theory behind. The first time I installed a programm on Linux, I used a graphic interface put in a keyword and clicked onto the program to install similar to android, than I learned to open the Terminal and type "sudo apt-get install xyz" and it worked as long as the program was in one of the official sources, than I stumpled upon programs that are not within the official sources, but are included in a so called PPA, a non-standard kind of source, in order to use it I had to add it by typing "add-apt-repository ppa:somename/somename", after this I had to update the sources and could install it same way I used with the standard sources before, the last way of installing a program I met was called "binaries", it is said to do all the work manually like something called dependencies and such stuff which I did not master. I would like to know if those are all possible Ways of installing in theory or if there are still others out there ?

Abdul Al Hazred
  • 1,329

1 Answers1

2

There are very many, as "installing" means more or less the same as "copying a bunch of files with some side-processing".

But broadly speaking there are two that you have already mentioned:

  • From original "program sources", with explicit build and copy commands issued by yourself.
  • Using a "package manager", using "packages" built by yourself or someone else.

In both case where are dozens of variants. The main advantage of a package manager is that it makes uninstalling easier.

An introduction that explains that here is here:

http://www.sabi.co.uk/Notes/linuxWhyPackages.html

On top of "package managers" like DPKG there are "dependency managers" like APT that create lists of packages that must be installed to make another package work properly or at all.

PeterG
  • 1,105
  • 7
  • 6
  • thanks, you mentioned packages, is package just another name for a program or does it differ in meaning ? – Abdul Al Hazred Sep 11 '15 at 21:08
  • 1
    A package is a collection of files and related scripts, usually contained within some sort of archive file, but that can vary. The files can amount to a single program or library and related accessories or a collection of related programs or libraries, or even just documentation. Deciding how much to put into a package and its structure is a call of judgement and building "good" packages is a difficult art. A "package" is somewhat similar to what is called an "installer" in other systems. – PeterG Sep 13 '15 at 20:20