Software Packages

A software package is a bundle of software and configuration files, plus some scripts used to install the software. A software package is a way of distributing software so that it can be easily installed, upgraded, queried, and deleted.

Package management systems take all the various files containing programs and data, documentation, and configuration information, and place them in one specially formatted file.

The advantage of having a package manager is that you do not have to compile the application on your system to install it. You simply need to have a compiled version of the package - usually called a pre-compiled binary created by someone who is generally more knowledgeable about compiling the package in its most optimized format. You can then install this compiled package/application through the package manager.

There are two main systems for package management: RPM and APT/DEB.