Synaptic Package Manager

Introduction
Synaptic Package Manager (or just "Synaptic" for short) is a powerful package management tool in Granular. It is used to:
 * install new softwares (packages) by downloading them from the repositories (Granular's and PCLinuxOS's).
 * remove installed packages
 * upgrade installed packages to latest version
 * see description of installed packages and all other packages available in the repositories
 * update the whole system
 * add/remove repositories

Do remember that using Synaptic Package Manager is the recommended way to install/update software packages. This is because a software that you wish to install may have some associated dependencies and Synaptic automatically takes care of them by installing them along with the software to be installed. The only limitation you face while using Synaptic is that you get to install only those packages that are available in the repositories.

If you want to install anything not present in any of the repository, then you have the following options:
 * Download the source code of the package you want to install from its developers' website. Compile and install it as per the instructions mentioned on the website. Generally, you compile and install source code using the following commands (in order):

./configure make sudo make install
 * Download and manually install the RPM for the package you want to install. You should install an RPM manually using the command:

rpm -ivh /packagelocation/packagename-version
 * If you have KPackage installed, then double-click on the downloaded RPM and press the Install button.

Note: While performing a manual installation using any of the above mentioned methods, remember to have all the dependencies of the package to be installed pre-installed.

How to access Synaptic through command-line?
The interested ones can access Synaptic through command-line by issuing the command "synaptic".

How to enable / add more repositories in Synaptic?
See the main article for details: Enabling more repositories

How does the main interface of Synaptic look like?
See the screenshot below: