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I am a new Ubuntu guy actually just shifted Linux. When I try to install a software by typing, sudo apt install softwareName, it shows me "Missing Packages".

When I tried to install vlc, it showed me. I got the solution from google. Now I am trying to install another application and it still shows me "Missing Package".

Now my question is, how can I understand which packages I need to install first before installing a software?

Thanks.

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    Shouls you not be using sudo apt-get ?
    – graham
    Apr 29, 2018 at 9:41
  • apt is a later version of apt-get. It has consolidated commands from the apt-get suite. It also has some extended features. Apr 29, 2018 at 10:36
  • Can you explain what you mean by"When I tried to install vlc, it showed me"? What were you shown? What was responsible for showing you? Can you also edit your question to include the full error message you get when you are unable to install a package, as well as the output of the command dpkg -l | grep ^..r?
    – Hee Jin
    Apr 29, 2018 at 12:30

2 Answers 2

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When using the package manager you don't need to install anything before installing a package. The manager takes care of all the dependencies.

There are occasions that a user may have broken packages due to installing something that could corrupt their default libraries. When that is the case, appropriate messages will be shown to the user of what to do to fix the problem.

From the content in your question, it suggests you have a new installation. Some libraries and packages are not updated on an initial install. With time the system will automatically update your libraries and dependent packages. This process also happens more automatic when you use the GUI package manager, Ubuntu Software. You can get to it by typing software after clicking the applications menu (The button at the bottom of the side panel).

When running the terminal package manager, apt, you would have to manually perform the updates with the following commands. The first two commands update your libraries and dependency packages. The third command installs your intended app.

$ sudo apt update
$ sudo apt upgrade
$ sudo apt install vlc

If your libraries are up-to-date, the next time you don't have to run the first two commands. You may not have to run it for months. But it would never hurt to run them most of the time when you are installing a new application. Many application install instructions include those two commands as part of the install procedure.

There are rarely conflicts and problems when using applications from the default repository. If there are problems as mentioned above, the output will be very specific to what the problem is as well as the command to fix it.

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sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get upgrade

And open Ubuntu Software and search for vlc it is the easiest method

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