Are there alternatives to software center?

Question

Are there any GUI alternatives to the Ubuntu Software Center with

• Fast application loading/Low startup time
• Fast search
• Low weight/size
• Application purchase facility

Answer 1

Yes, there is an alternative to the Ubuntu Software Center named appgrid. It's a very lightweight application center for Ubuntu and it will let you purchase applications too. You can install it in Ubuntu with these following commands:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:appgrid/stable
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install appgrid

It was only a 100KB download for me.

Comparison between appgrid and Ubuntu Software Center:

Feature                                                | appgrid  | Ubuntu Software Center
-------------------------------------------------------+----------+-----------------------
Programming language                                   | Python 3 | Python 2
Warm start to home screen                              | 2.7s     | 20s
Warm start to details screen (eg opening an apt: link) | 2.3s     | 30s
Full database build                                    | 58s      | 6min24
Initial database size                                  | 36.7MB   | 96.5MB
Memory usage after startup to home screen              | 20MB     | 53.6MB
Lines of code (including tests)                        | 5900     | 56960

You can sign in with Ubuntu One ID also:

Answer 2

You can use synaptic , a front-end for apt-get.

Answer 3

Yes. Try the Lubuntu Software Center. It is very fast and light-weight.

sudo apt-get install lubuntu-software-center

Answer 4

I noticed that deepin software-center is not on this list...

Features:

• There is a regularly updated list of featured applications on the home page. The list of recommendations are produced based on user ratings.
• The Software Repository gives you a handy way to choose and install desired applications with just one click. With a powerful multi-threaded download back-end, they are available to you for fast download, limited only by your network connection.
• Update manager helps you make sure your operating system has the latest and greatest software installed. All the updates are available for free!
• Uninstalling applications that you no longer need gives you an opportunity to have a cleaner working environment.
• Comes with 9 pre-installed colorful skins, so you can select one that brightens your day!
• Cleanup cached packages to gain more space
• Open download location and refresh application list
• We have added official Ubuntu sources for fast downloads

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:noobslab/deepin-sc
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install deepin-software-center

Reference:

• Linux Deepin - Features

Answer 5

You can try to familiarize yourself with the command lines: Searching:

apt-cache search wesnoth 

This will often yield many results, so it is useful to pipe eg to less or to use grep to search further:

apt-cache search wesnoth |less

Search in all descriptions for FTP, show only the matches which have FTP in the package description

apt-cache search FTP |grep FTP |less

Installing:

sudo apt-get install wesnoth

Removing:

sudo apt-get remove wesnoth

Answer 6

There is Muon Software Center (muon-installer), default Kubuntu software manager.

You can install it in Ubuntu, but it'll probably have a lot of Qt and KDE dependencies.

I recommend you aptitude, it's similar to apt-get but it has a very easy to use CLI.

You can always use synaptic, it's fairly easy to use and very powerful.

Answer 7

I noticed nobody mentioned gnome-software

It will replace software-center in 16.04, but I quite like software-center itself.

Answer 8

sudo aptitude is my personal favorite, used in the command line, very quick response on my 500mhz command line system.

sudo aptitude

You can also do it without sudo or root, but you can only view packages installed and search for packages.

Answer 9

If you just want to search for Ubuntu applications in the Ubuntu official repositories, you can browse the official "Apps" website: https://apps.ubuntu.com/

Here you can also quicly see screenshots and reviews for every app.

To install an app, you can just click the "Available in the Software Center" button in app detail page, using the "apt:" protocol.

Here you can find info about apt links:

• How do you open Apt links in Ubuntu?
• Can I use other than Ubuntu Software Center to open apt links?

Or you can just install the found package with synaptic or directly with command line sudo apt-get install <name>, as reported in other answers.

Answer 10

You can try this:

Appnr : A web based software center

This is a website which primarily uses the functionality of apt-url to install apps on Ubuntu.

More details find here : How to Download??

Answer 11

If you have enabled online search on Unity, your able to search for an app in the Unity App scope, under « More Suggestions ». Right click on the app and you'll see the description (aka Preview mode). And you've the ability to install the app from here, very quickly

Answer 12

You can use aptitude (if it counts). It should be pre-installed with your system but otherwise you can install it using apt-get :

apt-get install aptitude

And then it should be fine.

Note: I didn't do any research before writing this answer, so some parts can be wrong.

Answer 13

There is also mintinstall, avaliable from the Linux Mint repos

See How to add Linuxmint repositories to Ubuntu?

Answer 14

there is bauh store:

Graphical user interface for managing your Linux applications. Supports AppImage, Debian packages, Flatpak, Snap and native Web applications

to install read the installation guide

Answer 15

There is gnome-packagekit as well. It is easy to install multiple apps at once with the checkboxes. If you have used gnome-app-install (Add/Remove) on version prior to 9.10, it works it pretty much the same way.