Hi Folks,
I've recently switched from windows to Linux and Zorin OS Pro is my first rodeo as they say. I recently downloaded Proton VPN from the software store. I assume that to be ok, or should it have been done directly via their website.?Thanks in advance.
Hi, welcome to Zorin OS!
Generally speaking, if you find installation instructions on the official website for whatever software, use those. This is more likely to work without issues and easier to troubleshoot them if they happen.
Keep in mind that for Zorin OS 17, you should follow instructions for Ubuntu 22.04.
By the way, you will see a lot of online articles, documentation pages and even forums, such as this one, give advice in the form of commands to run in the terminal. I just checked the how to install ProtonVPN on Zorin OS and thought I should clarify this.
One big reason this happens is because it's a lot easier to give precise commands that are easy to copy & paste, instead of walking through a lot of windows that may not even look the same from one device to the next.
So, don't be afraid of using the terminal... it's just a tool like any other and it can be learned and used in situations where graphical solutions fall short.
A couple of tips, though:
You can launch the terminal from your application menu under Utilities > Terminal, or just search for "Terminal". There's even a built-in shortcut that you can use: Ctrl+Alt+T.
The usual Ctrl+C / Ctrl+V shortcuts for copying & pasting text won't work with the terminal. You'll have to use Ctrl+Shift+C, or the mouse.
It's not the case with the instructions provided in this article, but you'll sometimes see that the command starts with a dollar sign ($). You do not need to copy that.
Make sure you copy the commands exactly, and that you run them one at the time. Pay attention to the output, especially if you see something referring to errors. That information is crucial to troubleshoot the problem.
For a VPN specifically, I would strongly recommend using Proton's steps on their website. A VPN is a security service, and you want to be sure that it's kept up to date.
Thanks for the info, much appreciated.
Thx @zenzen for the writeup. I just reinstalled it properly and removed the Flatpack version from my system.
What is irritating tough, when installing an App using the GUI through Software you can check its status in the software app by right-clicking on the application and hitting show details. Now that its installed via apt-get there is no GUI anymore to check what has been installed and which version is on.
I get, that these are two different ways to install software on the system, but I find it confusing to not have all the information in one place.
That is the bless and the curse of a lot of topics in Linux. Multiple choice means multiple ways of doing the same thing, and the complexity of integrating everything into a nice graphical interface grows exponentially.
If having that bit of information is important to you, by all means go ahead and use the Software store to install your software as needed. Ultimately, you need to make a decision and there are no wrong answers, only what works best for you.
Personally, I prefer using only APT and one big reasons is also to have everything in one place.
You may want to install Synaptic Package Manager. It's basically a GUI for APT.
Does it also handle third party repositories added manually, like for Proton in this case?
You can read more about Synaptic Package Manager here: Synaptic Package Manager: How to Install & Use It on Ubuntu
Good to read that version of Firefox is same as I have, so both must be latest.
I recently upgraded from Z16.3 to Z17.3 and it retained Firefox as my browser, which I wanted, not Brave.
I believe it does, but I'm not actually running anything Debian based right now, so I don't have APT to check. <_<
Thanks, it's good to know that it can handle that... which begs the question, why can't Gnome Software?
One limitation of Synaptic is that it won't check for Flatpak or Snap packages, though. Going back to the issue of having all in one location, this still doesn't solve it.
The scope of Gnome Software Store is to provide and operate for Gnome Desktop use. Not for GnuLinux use. If Gnome had their way, it would manage Flatpak only, no APT.
