How do I download
php,
mysql,
python,
nodejs
Is there a way to pick which version of each I want or do I automatically get the latest?
I thought Zorin was Debian? You provided unbuntu 18.4
Zorin is built with Ubuntu 18.04 as the base. Often, you can search up information based on Ubuntu 18.04 to find commands or packages applicable to Zorin 15.
Ubuntu is Debian based.
If you prefer a specific version of an application, then you can search up source for it or a .deb package for that specific version, check it to ensure it is compatible with Zorin 15 / Ubuntu 18.04 and ensure you have the needed dependencies.
Then install it- If it is an earlier version that you prefer, you may want to hold it at that version so that when you run updates or upgrades, it does not upgrade that version. For that, you can "apt-mark hold" the package to hold it back.
sudo apt-mark hold (PACKAGE-NAME)
To remove the hold
sudo apt-mark unhold (PACKAGE-NAME)
You can also place a hold on a specific package using Synaptic Package Manger.
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How do I find out the package-name?
This is a very good question. You would think that packages and software would tend to have clear names. But they don't always.
The simplest is a net Search on the package. You can usually find the name this way pretty quickly.
You can also run in terminal:
apt list --installed
This will list All Installed software on your system in alphabetical order. You can scroll to your package name to get an exact name. I like to save a copy of this list in the Documents folder for reference, especially if I do a wipe and reload, so I know what to install.
Similarly, you can use apt-cache:
apt-cache pkgnames | less
What makes this useful is that if you only are guessing at a package name or are not sure, you can use the apt-cache to search in a more general way by using:
apt-cache pkgnames (Search Term) | less
So let's say that you know the application is a gnome application, but you are not sure what it is. In this example, you would put in
apt-cache pkgnames gnome | less
And this will list all gnome packages.
Below is a very tiny sample of my result:
globus-xioperf
libad9361-dev
libvo-amrwbenc-dev
r-bioc-makecdfenv
firebird2.5-classic
:
I got a huge list but at the end of the list I did not see the usual command prompt but rather the colon, when I pressed the space bar it kept giving my a never-ending list.
How do I get back to command prompt with flashing cursor?
When I tried to shut terminal down it said there is something running still after typing in apt-cache pkgnames | less?
Ubuntu distros like Zorin don't come with pre-installed php generally?
Will that hurt Terminal in anyway down the track because it's telling me "are you sure you want to terminate as they is something running at the moment"? Assuming I didn't cancel the running command beforehand.
It can crash whatever process is running in terminal which is why the warning. When you are done with the process though, crashing it is no biggie.
Piece of advice to Zorin users, don't ever update your Python version, because if you do, you will break your OS. So the next time you try to do something like load up software and updates, you will get this...
Failed to execute command "software-properties-gtk".
Failed to execute child process "software-properties-gtk" (No such file or directory)
If your Python version is too outdated because you can't use an APP without a higher Python version, then just update your whole OS to a new version that has the Python version you need.
This is the kind of stuff that gets my blood boiling when it comes to Linux.