Installing Applications with the Terminal

The Terminal provides more flexibility and efficiency when installing applications. Apt and Flatpak are powerful package management tools that allow users to install, update, and remove packages using simple and intuitive commands.

Understanding Package Managers

A package manager is an application that keeps track of packages' files on your computer. A package manager can also verify and retrieve dependencies for any program the user wishes to install, and check for updates for currently installed programs.

The Advanced Packaging Tool (apt)

Pop!_OS comes preinstalled with the Advanced Packaging Tool (apt). apt is a package manager that lies on top of another package manager called dpkg. When a user wants to update their system or a single application, apt checks for its dependencies, downloads the the application and its dependencies, and installs them. apt accomplishes this by referencing online package databases called repositories.

dpkg can install applications downloaded in the .deb format. However, dpkg does not have apt's functionality for downloading applications, or for automatically fetching and installing dependencies. dpkg commands remain a useful tool for troubleshooting package issues.

Flatpak

Flatpak is a package format that installs a “containerized” version of the software. This means the software runs in its own sandbox, and the installation will include all dependencies and libraries required by the application. In Flatpak, dependencies are grouped into "runtimes" that are compatible with any Linux distribution. Flatpaks pull all runtimes and libraries from Flathub.org by default. Flatpaks also do not require installing using super user privileges (sudo).

Launching the Terminal

Apt and Flatpak are command-line based applications that require users to enter typed commands into a Terminal.

You can launch the Terminal using one of these methods:

• Click the Terminal icon in the Dock.
• Press SUPER + T.
• Press SUPER to bring up the launcher, and then type "terminal" and hit Enter.

Using Sudo

Commands beginning with sudo tell the Terminal that the command should be run with super user (root) privileges. These privileges are required when installing applications or making other modifications to the operating system. The first time you run sudo in a command prompt, you will need to provide your password.

Managing Applications with apt

It is best practice to run sudo apt update before installing any packages with apt. This command fetches the most up-to-date index of all repositories that apt manages.

sudo apt update

Installing with apt

To install an application, run the command below and substitute [packagename] with the desired application (do not include brackets in the command).

apt install [packagename]

Updating Applications with apt

Update apt's index:

sudo apt update

Run this command to update a single application:

sudo apt --only-upgrade install [packagename]

Run this command to update the entire system, including all installed applications:

sudo apt full-upgrade

Note: The full-upgrade option will downgrade or remove dependencies as necessary when upgrading packages. The upgrade option will not perform these tasks. Running the full-upgrade option will avoid many dependency and package-related issues that may occur when updating Pop!_OS.

Removing Applications with apt

Uninstall an application using the remove command.

sudo apt remove [packagename]

Note: The remove command removes a single application. However, it may leave behind a small number of configuration files. The purge command will completely remove all trace of an application, including residual configuration files. To completely remove a package, see instructions for using the autoremove command with the --purge option.

Managing Applications with Flatpak

Installing Applications with Flatpak

flatpak install [packagename]

Updating Applications with Flatpak

Run this command to update a single application using Flatpak:

flatpak update [packagename]

Run this command to update all Flatpak applications on your computer:

flatpak update

Removing Applications with Flatpak

Run this command to remove a single Flatpak application:

flatpak uninstall [packagename]