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I use Ubuntu through a virtual machine (VM Workstation Player) and sometimes download packages through the terminal. Some of the packages I download are not the latest version. For example, I downloaded Eclipse IDE and Wireshark and some versions were downloaded. Even when I try to update those packages, it tells me that the packages are up to date.

Why can't I download the latest versions and how can I fix this?

user3552506
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  • What did you download from where ? Generally you install software either from the software center or apt-get. Define latest version ? latest version in the ubuntu repositories, latest stable from upstream, or latest unstable from upstream or for example git ? – Panther Oct 31 '15 at 02:33
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    If you are asking about the ubuntu repositories see http://askubuntu.com/questions/151283/why-dont-the-ubuntu-repositories-have-the-latest-versions-of-software – Panther Oct 31 '15 at 02:34
  • I downloaded Wireshark through apt-get. By latest version, I mean the latest version that is installed when I manually download it from the website and then install it. – user3552506 Nov 01 '15 at 05:13
  • See http://askubuntu.com/questions/151283/why-dont-the-ubuntu-repositories-have-the-latest-versions-of-software – Panther Nov 01 '15 at 16:16

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Some Linux distributions (distros) are more "conservative" or "prudent" than others and prefer to use more stable versions of packages, meaning you won't be able to download the latest versions through the standard repositories.

If you want the latest version of some softwares, you'll have to use alternative repositories by installing a Personal Package Archive (PPA) on your Ubuntu distro.

For instance, If you want to use the latest version of LibreOffice, you'll have to install this PPA:

https://launchpad.net/~libreoffice/+archive/ubuntu/ppa

Be careful to install only trusted PPA, coming from reliable sources (see Are "PPA's" safe to add to my system, and what are some "red flags" to watch out for?).

To install a PPA, you can:

  • add a line to the sources.list file in /etc/apt. For LibreOffice, it's deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/libreoffice/ppa/ubuntu wily main
  • on a terminal, type sudo add-apt-repository ppa:libreoffice/ppa
Community
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guillaume8375
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    and don't forget to run sudo apt-get update to activate the new ppa. – JoKeR Oct 31 '15 at 00:29
  • depends on what you mean by latest. ppa is one option but that assumes upstream uses a ppa or someone package the latest into a ppa. Some upstream projects, however, do not use ppa and ppa are packages by volunteers. So sometime you need to use git or similar and compile from source code. Some projects package binaries. It varies, but ppa are one option, but there are others depending on upstream and availability of volunteers. See http://askubuntu.com/questions/151283/why-dont-the-ubuntu-repositories-have-the-latest-versions-of-software – Panther Oct 31 '15 at 02:38