On Linux you rarely download an installer from a website. Instead, a package manager fetches software from trusted repositories, resolves everything it depends on, and keeps it up to date. This module shows you how that works and how to use the tools on the two most common distribution families.
It starts with the big picture: packages and repositories, and how
Debian-based and Red Hat-based systems differ. Next you'll work hands-on with
apt on Debian and Ubuntu, then dnf
on Fedora and RHEL, covering searching, installing, updating, and removing software. From
there you'll meet the universal formats Snap, Flatpak, and AppImage, and
it closes with installing software from source tarballs when nothing
else is available.
Prefer your distribution's own repositories whenever you can, and only add third-party sources you trust. When you're comfortable installing software, continue on to Networking & SSH.
Understand what a package is, how repositories deliver software and resolve dependencies, and how the apt and dnf families differ.
Refresh package lists, then search for, install, upgrade, and remove software on Debian-based systems with apt update, apt install, and apt remove.
Find, install, update, and remove packages on Red Hat-based systems with dnf, and see how it relates to the older yum command.
Compare the three universal package formats, how each one bundles an app with its dependencies, and when to choose one over the packages from your distribution.
Install software from a downloaded .tar.gz archive: extract it, read the README, and build it with the usual ./configure, make, and make install steps.