If you are using an OS based on the Synaptic Package Manager, you must have noticed by now that when trying to install a new package through Synaptic, it draws in miscellaneous packages that are needed for the program to work. These packages are called dependencies.

If you have an ubuntu/debian system , you can rebuild the deb file of any installed package. For this install the dpkg-repack package.

Whether you want to run the newest and safest version of Firefox or you want to test a new Alpha, it might happen the package manager of your Linux distribution doesn't include the version you want. In this article we'll look at ways to install the newest version beyond the package manager, and even better: Running multiple Firefox versions on the same system - even at the same time!

How many times have you noticed a file sitting in a directory and wondered… where did this file come from? Or you are trying to tell a friend how to use a utility but he doesn't have it installed, and you can't remember what package you installed to get it.

You most probably have already run into this at least once. You use the computer, try to do something and you get an error message saying "sorry, application foo is not installed", "the required plugin bar is not installed" or similar. And that's it, there it stops. You have to find out what package the required functionality is in, install it manually and try again. Like if the computer couldn't ask "but maybe I can install that, do you want me to try?" and handle it itself.

command-not-found is a special package in ubuntu that give you some extra information when you type a command that is not installed on the command line. It will look inside the package database and suggest a possible package to install so that the command can be run. command-not-found is installed automatically when you install ubuntu 9.04.

Installation involves downloading and installing Jitsi’s .rpm package from here. After you click on the package link, the window shown below should open. Rather than opening it in Apper, Fedora’s graphical package manager, save it to your home directory.

The installation instructions in most free software reviews aren't enough. If you decide a package sucks, how do you get rid of it? If a package rocks, how do you upgrade it? GNU Stow, a package manager for packages you compile and install yourself, provides an easy answer to both questions.

Ever forget what you had installed and find yourself at a fresh ubuntu install thinking to yourself... Damn now I gotta open up synaptic and search for everything I had... Well fortunately you dont need to do that. With this easy howto you can also restore all your packages that were installed by simply creating a package list and uninstalling every application installed after the list was made.