Using Synaptinc Package Manager

• Once you have your Ubuntu Installed, you would need various other packages.

• Let us take example of the acrobat reader. By default Ubuntu has pdf readers, but they are not as powerful as the acrobat reader is. Installation of such applications has been made extremely simple in Ubuntu (and other debian packages) by the help of something called as "Synaptic Package Manager".

• To open Synaptic Package Manager
• Click on System on System -> Administration -> Synaptic Package Manager.

• You will be prompted for your password, enter it and the Synaptic Package Manager will open up.

• First time you open the manager, it will have only a list of packages you have installed currently in your system. To update the list with all the available packages you would need an internet connection.

• If your internet connection uses a specific proxy you can set it in the manager.
• Click on settings -> preferences -> network tab.
• Here you can set it to direct connection or the proxy that has to be used.

• After entering the correct proxy, click apply and then ok.

• Click on the reload button on the left top of the manager window. This will  start loading a list of all the package available for download. It might take some time depending on your internet connection.

• Once the list is updated, you can search for the packages you want to install.

• For Eg : Click on the package list window and type acroread. This will take you to the acrobat reader package.
  

• Right click on the package and click on mark for installation , which will pop a new window, click on mark in it.

• Then click on apply on the manager toolbar, this will pop a window showing the download size and asking for your confirmation.

• Click on apply, the installation should start by itself.

• If installed successfully,the acrobat reader will appear in the "office" menu under applications.

• You can install any package you want following the same process

• Some times you might have to set the repository for the package that you want to download, you can set the repository in settings->Repositories-> Third party Software tab.