Fishpierce, your response to the OP question is a great one. I really like your suggestion of a Central Hub. I will direct Swarfendor, the author of the Unofficial Guides to Zorin to your suggestion and maybe we three can brain-pool some ideas.

Sites like this and the ZorinGroupForum exist as an Interactive measure.

Please keep in mind that the Zorin Development Team consists of:

Artyom Zorin

Kyrill Zorin

And

That’s it. Two people. This ain’t a big corporation- but we got eachothers back.

On Synaptic, please open Synaptic, Password, then go to Settings on the menu bar and explore.

The last tab is Distribution. If you click that (mine is currently on Bionic), you can change that (I can change mine to Xenial) and this will allow you to see other packages that otherwise might not be accessible. Xenial was Ubuntu 16.04. Bionic- Ubuntu 18.04. Slick, eh? Once you try that out, you will find you are able to Force package version. I do this quite a lot.

Next, please open Software and Updater and change the Download From option to Main Server.

That is under the first tab, “Ubuntu Software.”

Now, let’s peruse a Website:

https://pkgs.org/

We just hit the Motherload… In this, you can search for the package or dependency package you need. Once you find the one you need, download it to your Downloads Folder. In there, you can just Double Click the .deb package and the Software Installer will open and run the installation. Admittedly, I do this by command line(sudo dpkg -i ), because I like to check dependencies.

Now…time to Debate:D

I hear you about making it Easy to Use. I hear you about CLI. However, I do not agree. Allow me to explain:

The “Easy to Use” marketing strategy is the Problem. It is the problem with Microsoft and it is becoming a problem within Linux, too.

As a (poor ) analogy: Let’s make a car easy to use by removing the elements that give you Control. Steering wheel? Accelerator pedal? Computerize these things as they already have computerized so much else… You become just a passenger, not the owner/operator. And this slippery slope is VERY slippery and VERY treacherous.

I understand how trying it is to get into something that is different and maybe- MAYBE someone could call not easy to use… But I assure you, CLI is Very Easy To use. It Is.

When you first started doing Division in Grade School, you thought it was the hardest thing ever. Maybe you even hated it. But you still had to do it.

Microsoft would pander to that (Chaching! $$) and prevent you from having to do that Hard, hard thing.

Linux Does Not. It Cannot. I’m sorry… but if someone is so determined to have it Microsoft easy— They should stay with Microsoft. Because in Linux, we are willing to accept learning, accept challenges, accept that our fears are not limitations. For those who cannot: We do not want them.

Linux exists as a reprieve from that kind of pandering MS Control. It would be a major fallacy to emulate it.

For those who are truly tired and fed up with being micromanged by Microsoft, there is a home here. IF they are truly tired of it, then they must be prepared to accept the responsibility of ReTaking Control of their Machine. Linux cannot be another Microsoft for them- FOR FREE. That would kill Linux.

We cannot and must not allow ourselves to sacrifice our freedom of Open Source and our Control over our own machines for the temptation of “easy to use to the point the machine does the decision making and thinking for me.”

The Command Line Interface is our steering wheel, our Master Control. It is our FIRST line of defense. This is how it is.

For those who are ready to be in control, We will be here to be as helpful as we can to guide, assist, advise… maybe even make a mess of things… You clearly of a mind that you can operate Linux. What seems trying today- give it a couple weeks and like when you first learned to ride a bike or first was introduced to Long Division, in a short time you will be saying, “This is easy! And I feel back in control! I cannot believe it took me this long to make this decision!”

LInux as it is now really is Easy to use. It’s just new to those new to it. We can handle that. Welcome aboard and please keep the questions coming. Feel free to register on the forums and when you see another needs help- try helping (Don’t worry about messing it up, I do it all the time.) Helping others is a great way to learn new things.

Thanks too, for the suggestions and I think the “Hub” idea is a very interesting one. I’d like to see something come of that.