Getting Started with Linux – Setting up Ubuntu

As we have completed Installing Ubuntu 12.04 LTS, it’s time to set up it’s repositories and environment. Don’t be confused or scared of these terms. Repository is nothing but like a Database or in simple terms ‘list’ or refers to a storage location. In repository a.k.a ‘repo ‘ in short all the list of applications are stored like gcc (GNU C Compiler), java, GIMP, etc. So the question that would arise is, will the list be already exist? or what if newer versions are available. This is a common FAQ, it happened with me too when I was setting up my machine. We need to open up the Terminal.

To open a Terminal simply press ‘Ctrl’ + ‘Alt’ + ‘ T ‘.

OR

Go to Dash Home on top Left corner and type Terminal and open it.

Now you will see a Black screen with your user ID.

Now we need to update the repositories of Ubuntu. This is achieved by manually going to Ubuntu Software Center and updating, but it is not preferred. I recommend using Terminal for updating, installing and coding, etc. through terminal only as I feel that using terminal makes things fast and easy.

How is repository updated?

Repository is updated by accessing the servers that share the list of the sources which is then stored locally on the Disk in a file named ‘sources.list’. The contents of the file can be viewed by using

$ gedit /etc/apt/sources.list

Here you can see from which server the packages will be downloaded.

As we have just installed Ubuntu, there would be minimal packages available.

To update the repository and package source list.

In Terminal, Run:

$ sudo apt-get update && apt-get upgrade

sudo means doing an action as a super-user/ root/ admin of the system. The Operating System gives all the permissions to the action as sudo.

‘apt-get update’ will update the repository and ‘apt-get upgrade’ will download the packages and install them.

High speed internet is recommended for quick update as the total packages will sum up to aroung 400-450 packages and size upto 355 MB.

Let the Windows be open, and feel the Freedom.