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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).

Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.

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New Linux user here. Is this really how I'm supposed to install apps on Linux? (feddit.uk)

submitted 10 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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https://mullvad.net/en/help/install-mullvad-app-linux

Trying to install VPN and these are the instructions Mullvad is giving me. This is ridiculous. There must be a more simple way. I know how to follow the instructions but I have no idea what I'm doing here. Can't I just download a file and install it? I'm on Ubuntu.

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[–] [email protected] 12 points 10 months ago

cURL is a very commonly used program to download individual files from the command line and worth installing to have it around in the future.

sudo apt update
sudo apt install curl

The first command tells your package manager to update its list so you ask for the latest version. You can skip it if you've already updated today. The second command tells your package manager to install cURL.

This will happen every now and then, especially when building a package from source. You won't have some common utility that the documentation writer assumed you had, and you will need to find what package provides it and install the package.