Problem with module add

The module system is part of the environment-modules package in ubuntu. (install with apt install environment-modules) However, installing it is only half of the battle.

The module system is frequently used on clusters and other shared systems when multiple conflicting software packages and versions can be installed separately in parallel subdirectories. The environment modules package does not include that software, it is just a convenient way to manage the environment variables to integrate selected packages into your user environment.

You can install modules on your local system, but you will also have to install the individual packages you need and create modules for them.

Alternately, if you don't use conflicting software packages (like multiple versions of gcc or multiple versions of python / anaconda), you can just install the one you want and leave it in your environment permanently instead of using modules.

Some packages are available in ubuntu using the ubuntu apt system. For example, Ubuntu 20.04 comes with python 3.8.10 and gcc 9.3, and gcc 10.3 is also available in Ubuntu via apt install. Other packages like miniconda / anaconda can be downloaded from corresponding websites.