Most of the common distributions have a large index of popular programs on the distribution specific web sites. Most software work on one-dick installations from other web sites as well. For example, as a user of Interpid Ibex, you can install software from the one click installation index in the Linux Mint Felicia portal. One-click installation is the most common method for installation in SuSE, one of the more common rpm-based distributions.

Here, we show you how to install packages from a one-click installation for Linux Mint Felicia. The procedure is similar for one-click installations on other distributions, where available, like Open SuSE. Note that a configured Internet connection is essential for one-click installations, but most Linux programs have a large file size, so most of them are manageable even on a slow connection.

The next page is a breakdown of the categories in which software for Felicia is indexed and available as a one-click installation.

The software listed in a sub category, is also listed in the main category. This means that software listed in Sound and Video > Burning Tools, will not be listed in Sound and Video along with other software listed in the Audio Player and Video Player categories.

Once you have homed in on software you want to install, click on the "install now" icon.

Given a choice of saving and opening, select open. This feature works differently in different browsers, depending on how the web browser handles downloads. In Firefox or Konquorer, you will be asked to enter the password directly. In Opera, you will have to click on Open, agree to use Gnome-open to handle the file, and then enter the root password.

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A message will pop up giving an overview of the changes the installation will make on your system. This is common across most distributions, where a description of the software, the packages being downloaded, and what repositories are being used are shown. Sometimes, Mintlnstall can use the Ubuntu repositories for installing software on Mint. Many distributions are compatible with the repositories of the distributions they are derived from. If you are sure that this is the software you want, and you are prepared to install it, click on install.

Now the Mintlnstall program will start working, and start downloading the necessary packages and dependencies necessary to install the program on your operating system. First the dependencies are installed, and then the packages of the program itself are installed. The number of dependencies you need to download will decrease drastically for the first few installations, and then level out, This happens as more common libraries are shared by a lot of software.

The installation is now complete. Click on close, and start up the program that you just installed. It will show up in the relevant section of the menu. In this case, under Sound and Video.

This is the easiest way of installing software on Linux. Installing from an rpm or deb package might have a problem of unsupported or outdated repositories, or a problem of dependencies. When available, look for a one-click installation, if you are a beginner. If the software you want is not available, look for ail alternative that will do the same job.