In this guide, we will walk you through what a DEB file is and how to install a DEB file on Ubuntu.
What Is a DEB File on Linux?
Getting started with Linux has always been easier than getting started with Windows in the past. It is only now that you can simply open up the app store on Windows and install apps with one click. On Linux, this has been a feature for over a decade. That said, many of the popular apps like Chrome are not available through the Linux repositories. There are multiple ways to find and install such apps. One of the most common is through a DEB package or file. You can consider it as an EXE file on Windows. The difference is that EXE files don’t necessarily have to be installed. They contain precompiled code, while a DEB file needs to be installed. As such, it’s closer to what an APK is on Android. These files ending with a .deb extension are known as a Debian package. Debian packages can be installed on Debian and its derivatives. For the uninitiated, Debian is a Linux distro upon which many other popular distros are based. This includes names like Ubuntu, Linux Mint, Deepin, and more.
Install DEB Package on Ubuntu with Software Center
Ubuntu ships with a Software Center that has a DEB installer built-in. This means if you have Ubuntu, you don’t need any additional apps to install Debian packages. It’s as easy as that. Unlike EXE files on Windows, you don’t have to go through an installation wizard or anything.
Install DEB File on Ubuntu Linux with GDebi
Not every distro makes installing a DEB package as easy as Ubuntu. Moreover, while the Software Center works, it isn’t quite efficient to load up the entire software center to install one little file. Graphical package installers like Gdebi do the same job with a smaller footprint. Although, GDebi does not come pre-installed on most distros. Once you’ve installed GDebi, you can close the Terminal. Download a DEB file if you haven’t already and browse to the file in the file explorer. As before, you’ll be asked to enter your password to proceed. Another way to do this is to simply launch the terminal and type sudo dpkg -i in the terminal. Then drag and drop the file into the terminal. This pastes the file name with its exact location in the terminal. You can then press Enter to install the deb file on Linux.
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