It's easy to install newer kernels in Ubuntu distros

Story: How to Get Newer Kernels on Ubuntu Total Replies: 7
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cmost

Feb 21, 2017
9:05 PM EDT
The comments section of this article, discussing how Ubuntu is crippled because it doesn't ship with Synaptic by default just goes to show the level of technical knowledge of Ubuntu users. Synaptic is easily installed in any Ubuntu based distribution by the command '$sudo apt-get install synaptic'. Gee, wasn't that hard? As for Kernels, I personally have always used the Liquorix kernel with has many optimizations and is updated often. It's been working wonderfully on my daily driver of over two years which runs Mint MATE 17.3 (based on Ubuntu 14.04 LTS but fully upgraded to MATE 1.16.1 and the latest build-essential compilers too) and with the latest Liquorix Kernel 4.9.0-8.1. I use it on my Debian machines as well. Liquorix is easily added via a well-maintained PPA.
gary_newell

Feb 22, 2017
9:56 AM EDT
You shouldn't have to run a command line program to install a piece of software in 2017.

Why can't Ubuntu Software actually just list all the packages available in the repositories and not just a few packages that I am never likely to use? Ubuntu Software is useless. It doesn't do anything.

If I am using apt-get to install Synaptic then I do not need Synaptic because I can install all software with apt-get

CFWhitman

Feb 22, 2017
11:00 AM EDT
Well, synaptic still comes in handy even though I use apt from the command line a lot. Also, Lubuntu Software Center is what I install for the uninitiated.

I never use regular Ubuntu, though. I tend to install Lubuntu or Ubuntu Studio for people I prepare computers for at the moment. The biggest complication is installing Compton* for compositing since those distributions don't have a built in compositor that works well (Xfce has a compositor which does not take advantage of the video hardware).

*(Some might expect that Compton could degrade performance, but it usually improves it even on ten year old hardware with basic Intel video because it shifts some of the processing burden from the CPU to the GPU, which isn't being fully utilized without it).
cmost

Feb 22, 2017
5:52 PM EDT
@gary_newell

"If I am using apt-get to install Synaptic then I do not need Synaptic because I can install all software with apt-get"

Oh really? Then I assume that you know the package names of all of the roughly 40,000 packages in Ubuntu's repositories by heart, as well as all of those offered by any third party PPAs as well as all of the necessary Apt commands necessary to list and search for packages and their dependencies using just the command line. If this is the case then of course you won't need Synaptic and can simply operate from the command line. Since I highly doubt that you do indeed have all of that memorized then the logic in your comment largely evaporates. Most people including novices however; can figure out how to issue the single command that I quoted and then use Syanptic for anything more complicated than that.
mbaehrlxer

Feb 23, 2017
7:07 AM EDT
i use search for that. when installing software, i usually like to find out what packages are recommended first. on a public search engine, because i also want to see comments and reviews. once i have a recommendation, then apt-get does the job.

greetings, eMBee.
gary_newell

Feb 23, 2017
12:49 PM EDT
CMost

apt-cache search can be used to list all of the packages available in all of the repositories
CFWhitman

Feb 24, 2017
2:50 PM EDT
There's always aptitude. Still synaptic comes in handy when you are actually using a GUI as far as I am concerned.
the_doctor

Feb 24, 2017
6:51 PM EDT
Synaptic is a huge selling point when trying to convince lifelong Windows users to convert to Linux.

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