Software
========

The Linux environment includes a range of system-installed and site-managed software packages. Commonly-used graphical applications are available directly from the Applications menu on the remote desktop system.

Site-managed packages (software not provided as part of the Linux distribution) are available through environmental modules.

Environment modules
-------------------

This is a system for managing environmental variables in the command-line shell in order to make specific packages (or versions of packages) accessible to the user.

List packages
^^^^^^^^^^^^^
To see the list of available packages on the system run

.. code:: bash
    
   module avail

which will show a table of all modules and the available versions. Currently loaded modules are highlighted and the default version for a given package (if defined) is also indicated.

To view the list of currently loaded packages run

.. code:: bash

   module list

Load and unload packages
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
To load a module run

.. code:: bash

   module load <package-name>[/version]

The addition of the version is optional. If not specified, the latest version of a package will be loaded, or the default version (if it has been defined).

To unload a package, use the command

.. code:: bash

   module unload <package-name>[/version]


Available packages
------------------

The following software packages are available on the departmental Linux environment.

.. toctree::
   :maxdepth: 2
   :glob:

   packages/*