Proposal: A User‑Installed Applications List Based on APT History (Not a Storefront)

[pyz0123-cpu]

Hi everyone,

I’ve been exploring Linux Mint and appreciating how clean and predictable the system is. But there’s one area where Mint could offer a genuinely helpful improvement — something that would make the system more transparent and user‑friendly, especially for people coming from Windows or macOS.

The Challenge
Mint (like all Debian‑based systems) exposes packages, not applications. Tools like:
• apt list -- installed
• apt-mark showmanual
• /usr/share/applications
• Software Manager

…all give partial or very noisy views of what’s actually installed. The result is that users see dozens or hundreds of entries — many of which are system components, helpers, settings modules, MIME handlers, or background utilities.

Important clarification Software Manager is not the solution here.
It’s a storefront — a discovery tool — not an inventory tool. Software Manager is excellent for browsing and installing curated applications, but it does not:

• show everything installed on the system
• distinguish between user‑installed apps and system components
• reconstruct installation history
• unify APT and Flatpak
• provide a Windows‑style “Apps I Installed” list

This proposal is not a replacement for Software Manager, nor should it be. It solves a different problem entirely.

What I Mean by “App” (This Is Important)
To avoid confusion, I want to be very clear about what I mean by an application in this proposal. When I say app, I mean:

• a full, runnable, user‑facing program
• something that appears in the menu
• something a user intentionally launches
• examples: Thunderbird, Firefox, LibreOffice, GIMP, VLC, Audacity

I do not mean:

• helper utilities
• background services
• MIME handlers
• settings modules
• system components
• .desktop fragments
• internal tools
• anything with NoDisplay=true
• anything that exists only to support another app

This distinction is the crux of the issue. Linux exposes everything as a package or a .desktop file, but users only care about actual applications — the things they intentionally installed and run. This proposal is specifically about reconstructing a clean list of user‑installed, user‑facing applications, not system components.

The Idea:
APT already logs user intent in:
/var/log/apt/history.log
/var/log/apt/history.log.1
/var/log/apt/history.log.*.gz

These logs contain entries like:
Commandline: apt install vlc
Install: vlc:amd64 (3.0.16-1)

This is extremely valuable information. It tells us:

• what the user explicitly installed
• when they installed it
• which packages were pulled in as dependencies

Using this, Mint could build a tool that:

• Parses APT history logs
• Extracts the top‑level packages the user intentionally installed
• Checks whether those packages are still present
• Presents a clean, curated “User‑Installed Applications” list
  This would be the closest Linux has to Windows’ “Apps & Features” — but built the Mint way: simple, clear, and user‑focused.

Why This Matters -Such a tool would:

• help users understand what’s actually on their system
• reduce confusion caused by hundreds of package entries
• make it easier to uninstall things cleanly
• help new users transitioning from Windows
• complement Flatpak’s clean app model
• fit Mint’s philosophy of practical, user‑friendly tooling
  Mint already builds excellent custom tools (Update Manager, Driver Manager, Software Sources). This feels like a natural addition.

Why This Is Not Software Manager
Software Manager is:

• a catalog
• a discovery interface
• a curated app browser

This proposal is:

• an inventory
• a reconstruction of user intent
• a list of what the user actually installed
• a tool for understanding the system, not browsing apps
  These are fundamentally different purposes.

Why Mint Is the Right Place for This - This idea is Debian/Ubuntu/Mint‑specific because APT logs are structured and reliable. Other distros use different package managers and log formats, so a universal solution is harder. Mint, however, could implement this cleanly and elegantly for its own ecosystem.

Here is what I’m suggesting -- A Mint tool that reconstructs a clean list of user‑installed, user‑facing applications by analyzing APT history logs and filtering out dependencies and system components. This would give users a true “What apps have I installed on my system?” view — something Linux desktops have never provided cleanly. Would love to hear thoughts from the community and developers.

Thanks for reading!

[mtwebster]

This is something already being worked on by @clefebvre I think, to create a front-end to manage installed programs, when they were installed, their size, etc... similar to Windows' Add-or-remove programs.

[pyz0123-cpu]

Thanks for the update — that’s great to hear. I’m glad this is already on the roadmap.
If it’s helpful, I’d be happy for the ideas I outlined here to be passed along or considered as part of the design. My goal was simply to articulate the UX gap clearly and describe one possible approach (especially around defining what counts as an “app” and using APT history to reconstruct user intent).
I’m not sure what direction the team is taking, but if any of these thoughts can contribute to the discussion or help shape the feature, that would be great.

[Secret-chest]

Please do not use LLMs. Even if you are not from an English-speaking country, poor English is appreciated more than LLM English.

[pyz0123-cpu]

Thanks for the reply (I think - LOL). To be clear, I am a retired knowledge architect that just so happens to love tinkering with computers, so my writing leans to a more structured English. Nothing I have written here is meant to offend or intimidate anyone - it's just the way I roll! And as I always say -- to each his own.