The scenario has changed in recent years, with Microsoft introducing an app store (Microsoft Store), where you can search for applications and click ‘Install’. The default way to install applications in Microsoft Windows, for years, was to search for an application using your web browser, download the installer file, and then run the installer. If you want to update all the applications installed at one go, just type sudo apt update followed by sudo apt upgrade! A big plus-point of software repositories are their security, as all packages are checked and verified by developers, and therefore you can be certain that installing an application would not cause any issues.

If you are not sure about what the package is called or if it is available in the repository, you can search simply using apt search firefox. For example, if you want to install Mozilla Firefox in Ubuntu, you just type sudo apt install firefox, then type in your password, hit ‘Enter’ - and done! As easy as that! ( sudo is used to grant you administrator privileges for installation, like when Windows asks you “Do you want this app to make changes to your device?” ).

You can use graphical app stores (like Play Store or App Store) build on top of these package managers to install applications but most experienced Linux users prefer to write commands in the terminal to install applications - and it is really easy as well. There are several package managers in the Linux world, such as aptin Ubuntu, dnfin Fedora and pacman in Arch - just to name a few. In Linux systems, you can access their software repository using package managers. Think of software repositories as Play Store in your Android devices, or App Store in your Apple devices - You just open the store, search for an application, and click ‘Install’. Linux systems come with software repositories, from where all the needed applications can be downloaded and installed.

One of the many factors Linux users generally rave about is the ease of installing applications in their systems.

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