Operating on Packages

Each Unix environment provides a special program for accessing the repository. It is called a package manager.

Why does the Unix environment need a package manager when Windows does not have such a program? Users of this OS download all software from the internet and install it manually.

There are several third-party package managers for Windows. The most popular one is Chocolatey. Microsoft plans to develop the official package manager in the nearest future.

The package manager installs and removes packages on the Unix environment. Its main task is to keep track of package dependencies.

We can see how useful this is with an example. Let’s suppose that some program from one package uses features of the library from another package. Then, the first package depends on the second one. This means that we should install the second package whenever we install the first one.

Package dependency allows us to have a single copy of every program and library in our file system. All dependent programs know the installation path of the software they need. This way, they can share it.

We should install all software on our Unix environment or Linux system using the package manager, with one exception. If we need a proprietary program, we have to install it ...