Are there alternatives to software center?

Solution 1:

Yes, there is an alternative to the Ubuntu Software Center named appgrid. It's a very lightweight application center for Ubuntu and it will let you purchase applications too. You can install it in Ubuntu with these following commands:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:appgrid/stable
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install appgrid

It was only a 100KB download for me.

Comparison between appgrid and Ubuntu Software Center:

Feature                                                | appgrid  | Ubuntu Software Center
-------------------------------------------------------+----------+-----------------------
Programming language                                   | Python 3 | Python 2
Warm start to home screen                              | 2.7s     | 20s
Warm start to details screen (eg opening an apt: link) | 2.3s     | 30s
Full database build                                    | 58s      | 6min24
Initial database size                                  | 36.7MB   | 96.5MB
Memory usage after startup to home screen              | 20MB     | 53.6MB
Lines of code (including tests)                        | 5900     | 56960

You can sign in with Ubuntu One ID also:

Solution 2:

You can use synaptic , a front-end for apt-get.

Solution 3:

Yes. Try the Lubuntu Software Center. It is very fast and light-weight.

sudo apt-get install lubuntu-software-center

Solution 4:

I noticed that deepin software-center is not on this list...

Features:

• There is a regularly updated list of featured applications on the home page. The list of recommendations are produced based on user ratings.
• The Software Repository gives you a handy way to choose and install desired applications with just one click. With a powerful multi-threaded download back-end, they are available to you for fast download, limited only by your network connection.
• Update manager helps you make sure your operating system has the latest and greatest software installed. All the updates are available for free!
• Uninstalling applications that you no longer need gives you an opportunity to have a cleaner working environment.
• Comes with 9 pre-installed colorful skins, so you can select one that brightens your day!
• Cleanup cached packages to gain more space
• Open download location and refresh application list
• We have added official Ubuntu sources for fast downloads

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:noobslab/deepin-sc
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install deepin-software-center

Reference:

• Linux Deepin - Features

Solution 5:

You can try to familiarize yourself with the command lines: Searching:

apt-cache search wesnoth 

This will often yield many results, so it is useful to pipe eg to less or to use grep to search further:

apt-cache search wesnoth |less

Search in all descriptions for FTP, show only the matches which have FTP in the package description

apt-cache search FTP |grep FTP |less

Installing:

sudo apt-get install wesnoth

Removing:

sudo apt-get remove wesnoth