Installing Software

Software Center

The Software Center is called Add/Remove Software in your app launcher. Searching for "Software Center" may not find it; search for "software" instead. It looks a little different on each desktop (a GTK version on GNOME, niri and Hyprland, a Qt version on KDE Plasma and COSMIC), but works the same way.

Pages

  • Home and Explore: browse and search apps. Each app shows where it comes from: an RPM package or a Flatpak.
  • Extensions (GNOME only): GNOME Shell extensions.
  • Distrobox: create and manage Distrobox containers.
  • Web Apps: install websites as apps with their own window and launcher.
  • Installed: what you've installed, to open or remove it.
  • Updates: package, Flatpak, firmware and system updates. See Updating RakuOS.
  • Settings: update checks, the tray icon, and the repository list where you can turn repositories like RPM Fusion and Terra on or off (see Repositories).

RPM packages installed here go into the same place as sudo rum install, so you can mix both.

Double-clicking a .rpm, .flatpak, .flatpakref or .AppImage file opens it in the Software Center.

The tray icon

The Software Center puts a small icon in your tray 10 seconds after login. It checks for updates (once a day by default) and tells you when a system update is ready and needs a reboot. Its menu has Open RakuOS Software, Check for Updates and Quit. You can turn it off in Settings.

System-wide changes such as switching editions, rolling back or resetting your installed apps are in a separate app, RakuOS System.

If it won't open

If nothing happens when you start it, the tray already holds it in the background. Open it from the tray icon's menu, or quit it from the tray and start it again.