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Editor to share with you how to use the lightweight Apt package manager Synaptic in Ubuntu, I believe most people do not know much about it, so share this article for your reference. I hope you will gain a lot after reading this article. Let's learn about it together.

What is the Synaptic package manager?

Synaptic is the GUI front end of a lightweight apt package manager system used in Debian, Ubuntu, Linux Mint, and many other Debian/Ubuntu-based distributions.

In general, everything you can do with the apt-get command in the terminal can be done through Synaptic.

Once upon a time, Synaptic was the default graphical package manager for almost all Debian Linux-based distributions. It is considered to be a user-friendly and easy-to-use way to manage applications.

Things have changed as modern package manager tools like GNOME "Software" and KDE "Discovery" bring more modern and intuitive graphical user interfaces. These package managers have a better interface to display package information in a more friendly way, with thumbnails, ratings, and comments.

Finally, the use of Synaptic is limited to most lightweight Linux distributions.

Why do you use "old" software like the Synaptic package manager?

Of course, in the case of a large number, you don't have to do this.

However, Synaptic still has a lot more functions than GNOME "software". Remember, it's basically the GUI front end of apt, which means it can do (almost) anything you can do with the apt command on the terminal.

For example, if you want to block certain package updates in Ubuntu, you can do this in Synaptic, but you can't do it in GNOME/Ubuntu 's software center.

In addition, I noticed some problems in the software center of Ubuntu 20.04. It's slow to load, it's slow to search packages, and it's full of snap applications (not everyone likes it).

Synaptic is also a lightweight application in Ubuntu, and using it can make your system feel faster.

Features of the Synaptic package Manager

Here is an overview of Synaptic:

Update package cache

Upgrade the entire system

Manage the package repository

Search for software packages by name, description, maintainer, version, dependencies, etc.

List packages by group, status (installed or not), source, or more information

Sort packages by name, status, size, or version

Get information related to the software package

Lock package version

Install the specified version of the software package

There are many functions that you can explore on your own.

How to install Synaptic package Manager on Ubuntu

The Synaptic package manager is available in Ubuntu's Universe repository. If the Universe repository is not enabled, you can find Synaptic in the Software Center:

Synaptic is in Ubuntu Software Center.

You can also install Synaptic from the command line. First make sure that the universe repository is enabled:

Sudo add-apt-repository univers

Then update the cache (not required in Ubuntu 18.04 and later):

Sudo apt update

Now, install the synaptic package manager using the following command:

Sudo apt install synaptic

This is all the installation process.

How to use the Synaptic package Manager

After installation, you can start searching for Synaptic in the menu and launch it:

As you can see, this interface is not one of the most beautiful. Notice the color of the check box. White means that the package is not installed, and green means that the package is installed.

You can search for an application and click the check box to mark it as installed. It will also be highlighted (in green form) as a package for dependency projects. Click apply to install the selected package:

You can use Synaptic to view all packages installed in Ubuntu. You can also choose to remove the package from this view.

You can display the software packages available in each repository based on the source. This is a good way to see which PPA provides what software packages. You can install or remove packages by using the methods described above.

Usually, when you update Ubuntu, all packages are updated at the same time. With Synaptic, you can easily select the package you need to update / upgrade to a newer version.

You can also lock the version of the package so that they are not updated as the system is updated.

You can also use Synaptic to search for packages. This is similar to using the apt-cache search command to search for packages.

If you think you made the wrong choice, you can click undo from the Edit menu.

You can do a lot of things with Synaptic, and I can't cover all the possible uses. I've covered some of the most common methods here, and if you're going to use Synaptic, I'll leave it to you to explore.

Synaptic is not for everyone.

If you don't like Synaptic, you can remove it from the Software Center or use this command from the terminal:

Sudo apt remove synaptic

Ubuntu also has another lightweight package manager called AppGrid. As far as I know, it hasn't been updated for some time.

Synaptic is certainly not for everyone. It lists libraries and packages that you don't see in regular software centers. If you remove a library that you don't know, it may cause problems.

I think Synaptic is more suitable for intermediate and advanced users who want to have more control over the package manager and do not want to use the command line approach.

The above is all the contents of the article "how to use the lightweight Apt package Manager Synaptic in Ubuntu". Thank you for reading! I believe we all have a certain understanding, hope to share the content to help you, if you want to learn more knowledge, welcome to follow the industry information channel!

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