There’s really nothing that hard about installing programs on Linux. Anyone who still uses shell commands like say, “apt-get install some-program-or-the-other,” is doing so because they want to do it that way, not because they have to. Programs like Debian and Ubuntu’s Synaptic, Fedora’s yum or openSUSE’s YaST makes installing programs little more than a matter of point and click. Still, some people have trouble, so Ubuntu is reviving a dusty, old project, AppCenter so that anyone can install Linux programs.

I was pointed to the newly refurbished site by some Ubuntu insiders in response to some questions I had about an earlier rumor about their being plans for an Ubuntu App Store afoot. I guess Apple’s App Store’s roaring success has everyone App Store happy these days. That site, apperi, which describes itself as a Linux app store, wasn’t the one though that Canonical, the company behind Ubuntu, was working on.

According to the Ubuntu site, “There will be a single graphical interface for package management in Ubuntu, currently codenamed AppCenter. (The final name, like much of the design, will be partly dependent on user testing.) This will combine the human-readable approach of Add/Remove Applications, the power of Synaptic, and the ease of use of Update Manager. Having a single interface will make handling software easier, socially improve security, hopefully free space on the CD, and provide a prominent showcase for Ubuntu and partner software. The implementation will likely be based on Add/Remove Applications (gnome-app-install), but may use PackageKit for some components.”

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