As the title says which of these do people mainly use...
The Software store (Sometimes has 2 versions of an app)
The vendor website using the .deb thingy
The terminal
Out of these which method is the best/safest to use? Are there pitfalls to each? And finally while looking into this as a new user I am now thinking that the terminal method and the direct download from vendor website method might not automatically update the apps for me?
I know this is likely a very basic and perhaps silly question but I am having terrible problems with (the now nightmare inducing) x11 and wayland. Last week I knew nothing at all about these things and now they dominate my mind
You have mentioned 3 sources of apps, but there are other methods and package alternatives also to consider.
The different "versions" you may see in Software store will relate to .apt flatpak and/or snap packages. The "ZorinOS" listing will be a native .apt version, wheras snap and flatpaks could be a newer version of the same app. But snap and flatpaks have downsides (IMO) in that they are self-contained with all dependancies, therefore bigger and may also not integrate well with the system due to their 'sandboxing'.
There are also appimage sources for some apps.
Installing .debs is similar to installing .apt from Software store.
The terminal can be used to install .apt' snaps and flatpaks. It is just an alternative to using a GUI.
Synaptic Package Manager is another tool you can use to install and manage .apt's.
This may come as a bewildering choice to a linux newbie. If you are open and willing to learn, you will soon pick it up and we are here to help.
Some of us shun snaps and flatpaks ,because we prefer native .apt versions even though they may not be "latest and greatest". We know they will not contain bloat and will likely integrate well. I have limited HDD space so will not employ flatpaks or snaps.
Typically, I install most programs with the software store, other times I install via APT in Terminal. Rarely do I install programs via DEB files, but the last one I did, I think it was OPENRGB, which that APP is a disappointment, lots of promises, failure in execution.
Thanks you. So if I use the terminal method does the app update? I just now have seen an update (going to "software updates" in the settings) for Opera browser
which I downloaded from their own website. So those apps do get updates through the software updater.
Edit: Sorry, I just read that you also get updates with the .deb file, so you don't need the repo. Some .deb apps offer updates, some not, I wasn't sure.
I think Users new to Linux are assumed to prefer using a GUI rather than type commands in a terminal (terminal phobia). So the Software app is provided for software management. There may be two packaging choices for software - Flatpak and .deb. The Flatpak philosophy is to offer and update to the newest stable versions of applications when they are released. In contrast, .deb files from an Ubuntu Repository are usually kept at the same version for the support period of the OS (with a few exceptions, like the web browser).
Ubuntu packages used by Zorin that come from the Ubuntu Main Repository are supported by the Ubuntu team for "critical" updates only, not newer features, and not all bugs. The Ubuntu team does not support packages that come from its Universe Repository. Any support those get comes from the "community". Flatpak packages provided by the apps developer are updated whenever new stable versions of the software is released, which can have new features and any bug fixes.
So now I have a bunch of browsers installed and I can uninstall them from the terminal. Are there any follow up commands I can use after that to perform a full uninstallation of ALL the files connected to that program?
For example (and to be clear I havent got a clue what im talking about here, im just assuming) if I remove a program via uninstall in the Software Store, or by terminal command, do the apps leave files/settings behind like in windows? I know Linux doesnt have a registry which might mean that the full thing is actually deleted when you perform the terminal uninstall command.
On windows I used a program called BC Uninstaller, which uninstalls the program, scans for leftovers and presents you with a list of everything not deleted by the uninstaller.
As a Debian user since i had to come back to Ubuntu's family for some reasons, i will say avoid as much as you can installing software apart from repository provided by your distribution. You could find out good reasons explained around the Web - security concerns.
So, best way are from your Software Center if you don't feel ok yet with a terminal.
Or with terminal by installing package from Zorin (Ubuntu) with APT, Flatpak or Snap.
Perhaps APPimage can be trusted, i don't know.
But, sometimes in the real life we don't have other option because software we need are not provided by our GNU/Linux distributions.
In my case i need daily Pcloud and Huion's driver to work with my drawing tablet (for this reason Wacom is a better choice for us, i allays bough Wacom's tablet in the past, but these kind are quite expensive).
I think these compagny can be trust, but we never know ...
Anyway. For a stable system, install as much as you can trusted software from the repository made available by the distro you use.
Configuration files are also left behind in Zorin when you remove an app. You can use the "sudo apt purge PACKAGENAME" command and then "sudo apt autoremove," but with the latter, you need to make sure that nothing important is removed in the process. These commands are only for apt packages.
Just a word of Caution. I remember Bleachbit uses autoremove in one of its actions. Just take care and review what is proposed to be removed, before you delete some essential files unexpectedly.
