So, how do I get stuff that works on Ubuntu?

I have to admit, this was a significant fear of mine before installing Ubuntu.  I stated before that I have been a fan of +Nixie Pixel for a while and have been watching her tips and reviews for a while.  But what scared me is she totally qualifies as a super-user (Linux fans will see what I did there) and so many of her videos centre on using the 'Terminal'!

Danger! Education Inbound!  Computer users of my pedigree will remember using devices like the ZX81, BBC - even the early days of the 'IBM Compatible Personal Computer' (when was the last time you heard that phrase?) will remember typing commands into the keyboard to get the computer to do something.  These days we use the mouse and pretty graphics to accomplish our tasks.  I pointed out in this post that using the mouse and screen is something called the Graphical User Interface or GUI.  Using the keyboard to enter commands is something called the Command Line Interface or CLI.  In Ubuntu (hell, all Linux Distributions, or 'Distros') enable you to use both a GUI and CLI.  As the linked post explains, the GUI in Ubuntu is called Unity.  In all distros of Linux (someone correct me if I'm wrong) the CLI is called the 'Terminal'.  No, it's not fatal, and no it's not where American trains stop to collect passengers.  Without massive knowledge, I'm going to guess it named after what we used to call access stations to the centralised computer - a computer 'terminal'.

By first impressions it appeared that to install a new program on my system, if I were to head down the Linux route, I would have to learn a series of commands that to all intents and purposes would be a new programming language.  That terrified me - and I'm a qualified (albeit outdated) geek... what would it do to the uninitiated?

As it transpired, my fears were unfounded.  One of the default applications you get when you install Ubuntu is something called the 'Ubuntu Software Centre'.  If you own an Android or Apple smartphone, it works in the same way as Google Play or the App Store.  And much like those app providers, many (indeed most) of the applications you'll find there are free.

As soon as I installed Ubuntu, I set about getting the applications that I knew I needed.  So I installed Dropbox, (I have it on my work PC, my home laptop,  Android smartphone and tablet - and share a load of data with my family with it) Gimp, (the open source equivalent of Photoshop - just don't ask me why it has such a S&M descriptive name) and Chromium (Danger! Education Inbound!  I had been using Google Chrome on my laptop for a while...  What I didn't realise is that Chrome is a Google branded - and cut-down version - of a Linux web browser entitled Chromium).

So I can't show you how easy it is to install all of those applications short of removing them and re-installing them - and what would that do for me... better to get new free stuff!  So here's how I got a cracking audio recording/editing package entitled Audacity (I hasten to point out that I had been using it on my Windows PC for years - but it was designed for Linux).

First I selected the Ubuntu Software Centre from my launcher.  This is a great start for any new user, as it shows a ton of applications that other users have installed as well as adverts for new apps that are out there.  (And before anyone gawks at the price of games for Linux... how much did you pay for your last XBox game?)  Then in the search box, enter the name of the app you want - or the type of functionality you want (entering 'audio editing' provided Audacity as the second result).

That done you can click on 'more info' for just that, but I know this app and didn't bother.  Then you just hit the 'Install' button, enter your password as authentication, and away it goes.

Once it's installed, and I'm sure there's a more elegant way of doing it, I just hit 'Dash Home' icon on the Launcher (it's the one that looks like the Ubuntu logo) and start typing the name of the application you've installed.  As if by magic, the application will appear on the screen below.  If you want to, you can click and drag the icon for that app to the Launcher and place it wherever you want it.  Else you can click on it - and Huzzah...!  It's running.

Honestly, that's as complicated as it gets for getting free software.  I do have to be honest, I have not downloaded any software that I have to pay for - but when I do, I'll make sure that I post about any differences.

I'm sure there is a reason why you would want to install software using the Terminal...  But so far (agreed, I've only been playing with Ubuntu for a couple of months) I haven't found the need.  I'm sure I will - and when that happens...  Yeah, you've got it - I'll post about it.

On that note, if you have any burning 'asks' for a new user like myself - or are an experienced user that wants something dumbing down to a level that I can understand - please leave a comment and I'll see if I can answer it, either as a reply or a post in it's own right.

Post Publishing Note: When looking for some advice on Google+, +ryan rochford put up a link to this...  Makes more than enough sense to me!