I am dualbooting Ubuntu with Windows 8.1 for about a year. My intention is to completely step away from the Windows environment, but I keep returning to Windows. Mainly because installing and managing applications seem to take so much time.
Installing applications
I cheer when an app is packaged in .deb file. But when I have to install .tar.gz files I become confused about where to run the file from and how to assign the correct privileges. I am running my main apps from a different partition than /home. So what would be the proper way to install applications?
Uninstalling applications
I really like in Windows how you can get a list from installed apps and just deinstall them. Applications that are not packaged in .deb files seem to not be listed in the ubuntu software center. How can I keep track of my applications and de-install them in an easy way.
Installing and Uninstalling from command line
A great advantage of Linux seem to be the apt-get install things. But it can be dangerous if I do not know what I am doing. Often apps require dependencies and I install them. When I install another app that require the same dependencies, I do not have to install them. When I want to uninstall an app completely, how do I keep track that its dependencies is being used by another app at the same time?
I am desperate to step off Windows, but these issues results me into spending a lot of time configuring my Ubuntu desktop, which is keeping me off the actual tasks I need to do. I am about to invest into an OSX machine, but I really want to reconsider Ubuntu desktop. Does anyone have the perfect guide for me?
