Managing the repositories in Linux
Much of Linux’s software is stored in repositories. Your Linux installation has a list of repositories, with the most stable recent packages for your distro and possibly some others.
To view, add or delete the repos
In Synaptic, go to Settings -> Repositories
- Official Repositories
- Upgrade to the latest version – PPAs – Personal Package Archives
- The official repo contains a fully tested set of packages – both tested individually and together. So you can be confident that all packages work together, that they don’t clash. Many of the packages in the official repo are one or more versions behind the latest version. PPAs contain other versions, and may include the latest version. Installing a package from a PPA increases the risk of packages clashing
- For more information on PPAs see this article on How To Geek
- Additional Repositories – for software that isn’t part of the official repo. Often the software’s website will give you step-by-step instructions on how to install it, including the command line for adding the repo. Or you can use Synaptic – Click on “Add a new repository” and enter the name and the URL
