Hi

Is there any way to find the installed software packages in ubuntu
like C:\Program Files in windows(all the software get installed in this , by default) so in ubuntu , which location all the software packages get installed.
Also is there is any way to back up all the installed software in ubuntu, so next time if we install ubuntu (after uninstalling) , the software backup can be restored (instead of installing from the scratch )
kindly advice on these things, Thanks for the help..

One way to see what is installed is typing at the terminal, dpkg -l (-l is the option to list) or with synaptic package manager or with ubuntu software manager. Now where is it installed is a different thing, normally on GNU system binaries goes under the directories: /bin, /usr/bin, /sbin, /opt, and maybe in other places, varies from distro to distro.

Don't think that is a very practical thing, unless you are using sources you can keep it on your home folder(so you dont format the home partition if you have one at reinstall) or in an storage device or second hard drive. Besides that GNU systems are known to be stable and normally there is no need to keep reinstalling it. If you like Ubuntu i suggest to stick with the LTS(long term support) version, so you can use the same system for several years, you can just update it before come to the point when you need to upgrade the system.

Regards

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Yep go into Synaptic, right click on the chosen software, choose properties, then choose the installed files tab. That will list everything that is installed in the / partition, I don't think it lists what is installed in /home/user/ though

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what does this term mean ! i am hearing this for the first time in ubuntu.
is there any way to choose ubuntu as LTS while we install the OS
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thanks for the reply

If you installed Ubuntu 12.04 then you are using a "Long Term Support" release that will be supported through April 2017.

This page lists the support cycles for all Ubuntu releases:

https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Releases

Also a quick way to find installed applications in Ubuntu (assuming you're using the default Unity desktop environment) is to tap the Windows/Super key and then type a few letters of the application you're looking for (or its function, such as: browse, word, message, files, etc.).

If you just want to save on the effort of selecting all the packages again, you can save the list and reapply it like this:
This will work even on new versions of *buntu (as long as the packages are still available).

If you want to save on downloading the packages you would need a different solution - but even then you'd have to download new packages for any new version of *buntu.