Forget Download.com, switch to Ubuntu and get an App Store!
Posted by Ben Smith on Thu, Mar 04, 2010 @ 09:03 AM
Whenever I rebuild my netbook, I have to go through the arduous process of getting the software tools that make this little computer a little more fun to use. After a Windows install, I've got to run around the internet to find apps like Google Chrome, Firefox, OpenOffice, the GIMP, a lite twitter client, etc. A lot of times I hit up download.com (cnet's download center) to look for interesting apps to try. More often than not, I end of with something that doesn't meet my needs and the uninstall is more painful than finding the crapplication was. I say...NO MORE!!!
Ubuntu's native Ubuntu Software Center is an App Store for Linux
Realizing that learning to use a standard Linux package manager (like rpm or yum) was a barrier to entry for those new to Linux, the Ubuntu community set out to make software installation and removal easy by following the app store paradigm. With the Ubuntu Software Center, users can:
- Browse for applications by "Department"
- Search for applications by term
- "One-click" install applications
- "One-click" remove unwanted applications
Like other popular App Stores, when a user finds an app that they would like or is already installed, it's easy to see what to do!
Once an app is installed, there's no need to do anything to keep up to date with the latest version as the Ubuntu Software Center is integrated into the operating system and application updates will arrive auto-magically along with the regular system updates. I'm glad to see that the Ubuntu community is hard a work bringing Linux to the masses!