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PackageManagement posts

Filed under: OS Updates, Features, Linux, Open Source, How-Tos

Flipping the Linux switch: Package management 101

Synaptic Package ManagerYour shiny new Linux system has it all -- except that one program you really needed it to install. You get online, you find the program's website, and click 'download'. Except there's not just a link to the program there.

There are four, or five, or more links to the program. Each has a slightly different format, ending with .rpm, .deb, .tgz, or possibly even .ebuild.

Some include x86 in the name, while others say ppc or amd64. What's the difference? What's actually included in these packages?

Packages are pre-compiled programs for your system (the exception being Gentoo's .ebuild). You've got to know a bit about your system to install them.

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Filed under: Utilities, Windows, Linux, Freeware

Win-get is like apt-get for Windows, but less useful

Win-Get
Win-get isn't the first attempt we've heard about to replicate the Debian Linux package management experience on Windows. But unlike Ed Ropple's proposal, Win-get already works. Sort of.

If you're not familiar with package management, here's how it works. You type "apt-get install <name of program>" into a terminal and your operating system will find that program online, download it, and install it. Newer versions of Linux have graphical interfaces that basically let you browse through a huge list of mostly free and open source software that you can download. No need to search the web for a good image editor. Just open your package manager and download GIMP.

Win-get aims to work pretty much like apt-get, but for free Windows software. We're not talking open source here, necessarily. Many of the programs in the win-get repository are free to download and install, but the source code may not be available. There's a huge list of software available for download.

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Featured Time Waster

The World's Hardest Game 2.0 - Time Waster

So, just how good at time waster games are you? Think you've got the stuff? Well, The World's Hardest Game 2.0 doesn't think you do. Yes, amazingly, it's possible to have a sequel to a game called "The World's Hardest Game". It doesn't seem logically possible, since if the first one was actually the world's hardest, how could another one come along and share the moniker? It made me doubt the name in the first place. That is, until I tried the game. The mechanics of the game are very simple. You are a small red square, ...

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