Is there an online/web interface to search and list apt-get packages and see summaries and recommendations?

Question

I'm looking for sort of an 'app-store' or Google Play store type functionality for apt-get packages. What I'd really like to do is select a category, like 'Music' or 'Internet' and see the list of available packages in that category with their summaries.

It'd be even better if the packages had ratings or reviews. Does anything like this exist?

Anything. Cygwin has something approaching this functionality in the setup.exe process. — Ehryk, Oct 30 '13 at 04:24
For debian they have this: http://www.debian.org/distrib/packages — slm, Oct 30 '13 at 04:50

score 30 · Accepted Answer · answered Oct 30 '13 at 04:20

30

Such a thing already exists for Ubuntu:

https://apps.ubuntu.com/

You can browse by category and search for packages using the web interface. Each application also displays its rating and any reviews it has received - just like the Software Center in Ubuntu.

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answered Oct 30 '13 at 04:20

Nathan Osman

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How do I get the package name? Here's an example: https://apps.ubuntu.com/cat/applications/precise/unity-lens-askubuntu/ – Ehryk Oct 30 '13 at 04:27
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@Ehryk: It's the last part of the URL - so in your example, it would be `unity-lens-askubuntu`. – Nathan Osman Oct 30 '13 at 04:28
Ah, thanks. They should show that on the page! – Ehryk Oct 30 '13 at 04:29
Please don't forget to upvote answers that are helpful, and accept the answer that solve your problem. – phunehehe Oct 30 '13 at 04:59
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In 2018, https://apps.ubuntu.com/ now redirects to [Canonical's Snapcraft Store](https://snapcraft.io/store). – Jacob C. Nov 29 '18 at 22:07
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Try instead: https://packages.ubuntu.com/ – JohnLBevan Jan 19 '22 at 11:34

score 7 · Answer 2 · answered Oct 30 '13 at 04:53

If it doesn't need to be web based, there are various programs that do this (arranged in order of purdiness):

The classic: synaptic, you just need to click on the "Sections" button on the bottom left to browse by section. Should work on all Debian based distros and as far as I know is installed by default on all of them as well. You can get Ubuntu debs (which should work for Mint as well) here. No ratings or reviews.
Ubuntu software center, installed by default on Ubuntu systems, but can also be installed on other Debian-based distros. Offers ratings and reviews where available.
Mint software manager (mintinstall), installed by default on Mint systems (including Linux Mint Debian) but can also be installed on other Debian-based distros.

It offers ratings and reviews when available.

To use them I'd have to VNC into the machine, which I don't usually. I have Windows machines and SSH access to the Linux Mint install. Thanks though! — Ehryk, Oct 30 '13 at 05:15

Is there an online/web interface to search and list apt-get packages and see summaries and recommendations?

2 Answers2

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