Managing Installed Software
As you work in various Linux or Unix environments, you’ll need to add or remove software. This is usually done via package managers, although occasionally you’ll have to use other methods in a pinch.
You’re likely familiar with tools that manage libraries in your programming environment — npm, gem, pip, go get, maven, gradle, etc. These package managers all operate on the same principles as the ones found in Linux and Unix.
Software package managers abstract away the many configuration and binary files that make up a piece of software and let you work with a single, neat “package” instead. Additionally, most package managers add some measure of security to the process, by
- using secure transport (TLS) for your download, and
- using cryptographic signing on the packages themselves, to prove that the authors are at least who they say they are (whether you implicitly trust them or not).
