Software Management in Slint. --- The basics --- In Slint software is provided as packages that can be installed, removed and updated. As in Slackware, installation and removal of software are recorded in a database made of text files in these directories: /var/log/packages /var/log/removed_packages /var/log/scripts /var/log/removed_scripts The main commands to manage the packages are listed below. All of them have associated man pages. These commands require administrative rights, associated to a specific account named 'root', for which you have specified a password during Slint installation. To issue a command as 'root', first type su - then enter the password for root and type the command. Commands below can be run from a graphical terminal or in a console, but gslapt that only works in a graphical environment. installpkg to install a package stored locally. removepkg to remove an installed package. upgradepkg to replace an installed package with another one (generally with the same name but at another version). slapt-get to install, remove, upgrade packages stored on remote repositories listed in /etc/slapt-get/slap-getrc The packages shipped in the installation ISO come from the repositories listed in /etc/slapt-get/slapt-getrc Do yourself a favor: read the comments in /etc/slapt-get/slapt-getrc and /usr/doc/slapt-get-0.10.2t/README.slapgetrc.Slint in the installed system. After having installed Slint, you'll be notified of updates of installed packages coming from repositories listed in /etc/slapt-get/slapt-getrc You can install additional packages using the command slapt-get or the graphical application gslapt, if stored in a repository listed in /etc/slapt-get/slapt-getrc slapt-get and gslapt provide a search feature that helps you finding packages. WARNING: you can use slapt-get, gslapt and removepkg to remove installed packages but do not remove packages shipped in the Slint ISO, even if you do not use them at all. Removing an included package will result in no increase in performance and could prevent other applications to run. Also, if you have added a package not included in Slint you may remove it but be careful that the removed package be not a dependency of other ones that you also installed and intend to continue using. --- Keep your system up to date --- Keep your system safe installing the software updates provided by Slint as soon as they're available. All updates are listed in the ChangeLog: http://slackware.uk/slint/x86_64/slint-14.2.1/ChangeLog.txt After Slint installation run this command once: slapt-get --add-keys To synchronize the local list of available package with that of the repository, this command is automatically run every two hours: slapt-get -u You can also run it manually This of course requires that the machine be connected to the internet. To download and install the upgraded or rebuilt packages run as root the following command: slapt-get --upgrade Alternatively you could also use gslapt, a graphical front-end for slapt-get. To get new packages listed in the ChangeLog as "Added", type: slapt-get -i or to make sure you have installed all packages shipped in Slint, including those added to the repository after you installed Slint, type: slapt-get --install-set slint. On the desktops, a small icon is displayed in the notification area of a panel (the top panel in MATE) to notify of available software updates. Just make a left click on it and follow the instructions mentioned there. Be aware that some packages are blacklisted in /etc/slapt-get/slapt-getrc, i.e. can not be automatically upgraded or installed. --- Getting applications that are not available in the repositories --- If the application you want is not installed and also not available in one of the repositories enabled in /etc/slapt-get/slapt-getrc, you could make a package for it, using build material provided by volunteers @ https://slackbuilds.org. To know how-to proceed, read: https://slackbuilds.org/howto/ https://slackbuilds.org/faq/ The packages built this way should be compatible with Slint. To ease the process of downloading the files and building the packages you could use the application sbopkg. Before using it you need to be acquainted to the slackbuilds and read: https://sbopkg.org/docs.php https://sbopkg.org/queues.php Be aware that building and installing packages this way can occasionally lead to issues like missing dependencies or conflicts with installed packages: the components used to build the packages are provided by volunteers who can not check the results in every possible configuration. WARNING: If you neither can find a package for a software you want nor stuff to build one @ https://slackbuilds.org,you could be tempted to build and install this software manually by issuing the commands ./configure && make && make install. Avoid to do that, as software built and installed this way will not be manageable by the Slint packages management system and associated tools. Rather, just post a question or request on the Slint mailing list and we will try to help, possibly adding this package to the repository. When done (this will be announced in the mailing list), type as root: slapt-get -i or slapt-get --install-set Slint to install it. Last updated on 28 March 2021