Linux Mint Forums

Edit (2 May 2020): Mint Backup tool pretty much does exactly what I need. Thank you gm10

Hi Folks,

So I'll be doing some new installs for friends and a re-install for myself this weekend (not bad for a noob - I've got converts).

1) And now come the question of tracking what software I've installed.

This actually covers the software manager (mintinstall) along with applets, desklets, and extensions.

Exporting a list of that which is actually installed. Obviously Software Manager tracks it, because I can filter the list.

And I did take a photo with my phone.

Have a way to export the list to a text file would make it much easier. Especially if you're upgrading with a new version.

Obviously I can use dpkg -l and hunt but this is much easier.

Heck, you could even export to a custom install script that you could then import into a new installation and you're off to the races.

2) Being able to actually sort the list of packages in the software manager would also be great. Alphabetically, Installed, Date, Rating. Even just column headings that you can click -to-sort would work.

Thanks for all the great work you do.

1) Mint menu > Backup Tool allows you to export the list of installed software and re-import it to your next installation. Suggest you wait for the version that'll release with LM 19.2 though because I made a number of important fixes to that functionality (or grab the version from my PPA now for even more fixes).

2) Yeah, it's a bit of a mess. It's supposed to be the top 200 matches based on rating, but then those 200 aren't actually sorted by rating (or anything).

PS: Just so there's no misunderstanding: I am not speaking for the Mint devs.

Mint Software Manager has never really excited me. I've "grown up" with the Synaptic Package Manager over the last 10 years, where many different filtering options are available, including troubleshooting and fixing for backward dependencies and broken packages.

Honestly: The look and feel is that of a crazy warehouse...