Software and Package Management

There are many different ways to install software on Linux.

The Package Manager

Unlike Windows, most software for Ultramarine is stored in online collections of software called repositories. You can browse and install software (packages) from these repositories using something called a package manager.

Flatpaks

Flatpak is the primary package manager for regular apps. It installs applications in a sandbox, keeping them separate from anything they don’t need to access.

Flatpaks can be installed from Software on Budgie, GNOME, and Xfce, and Discover on Plasma.

You can browse the available software in these app stores, or on the Flathub website.

Most desktop apps should be installed as a Flatpak, but in some cases, like with Steam, IDEs, or other apps that require access to the system, they may not work. The following sections will help with software in other formats.

Software Downloaded from the Internet

Sometimes, the software you need may come as a package file downloaded from the internet.

RPM Packages

To install RPMs simply double-click the downloaded file in the file manager.

AppImages

  1. Install AppImage Launcher from Software or Discover.

  2. Double-click the AppImage file and you’re done!

AppImages are not automatically updated and may have issues communicating with other apps and the system. We recommend looking for a Flatpak or RPM instead.

Snap

Snap is a package manager made by Canonical. It contains a large amount of proprietary applications that you may not be able to find elsewhere.

Snap may cause your system to run noticeably slower!

To get started, install Snap.

sudo dnf install snapd

Then, verify snap is working

sudo snap install helloworld
helloworld

Snap packages can load slowly and may not work on editions other than GNOME. We recommend avoiding Snaps.

DNF

Ultramarine uses the DNF package manager. While this package manager primarily handles system software (like the kernel, and your desktop environment) it can install user apps as well.

sudo dnf install steam # Install Steam

You can also install groups of packages, like full desktop environments or a suite of tools for music production, using the dnf groupinstall command.

sudo dnf groupinstall "Audio Production" # installs multiple packages at once, in this case a suite of music/audio production tools

For a full list of available groups, run sudo dnf group list

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