How To Install freefem3d on Ubuntu 18.04
Introduction
In this tutorial we learn how to install freefem3d on Ubuntu 18.04.
What is freefem3d
freefem3d is:
FreeFEM3D (aka ff3d) is a 3D solver of partial differential equations (PDE). It is a member of the familly of the freefem programs (see http://www.freefem.org).
ff3d, as well as its cousins, is a PDE solver driven by a user-friendly language. It solves many kind of problems such as elasticity, fluids (Stokes and Navier-Stokes) and a lot more. The user has to enter the equation associated with the problem, giving either the PDE in strong formulation or weak (variational) formulation.
ff3d can use either the Finite Elements method (the mesh of the geometry being provided by the user) or a Fictitious Domain like approach where the geometry is described using Constructive Solid Geometry (CSG). This description is done using the POV-Ray language but others such as VRML could be added.
The processing of the results is left to the user. One can use various graphic tools: output in the MEdit mesh format or VTK are supported. The implementation of a VTK base visualization module is underway.
The goal of ff3d is to provide a good teaching tool and a research toolbox (the code is written in C++ and its design is such that new methods can be easily implemented).
There are three methods to install freefem3d on Ubuntu 18.04. We can use apt-get, apt and aptitude. In the following sections we will describe each method. You can choose one of them.
Install freefem3d Using apt-get
Update apt database with apt-get using the following command.
sudo apt-get update
After updating apt database, We can install freefem3d using apt-get by running the following command:
sudo apt-get -y install freefem3d
Install freefem3d Using apt
Update apt database with apt using the following command.
sudo apt update
After updating apt database, We can install freefem3d using apt by running the following command:
sudo apt -y install freefem3d
Install freefem3d Using aptitude
If you want to follow this method, you might need to install aptitude first since aptitude is usually not installed by default on Ubuntu. Update apt database with aptitude using the following command.
sudo aptitude update
After updating apt database, We can install freefem3d using aptitude by running the following command:
sudo aptitude -y install freefem3d
How To Uninstall freefem3d on Ubuntu 18.04
To uninstall only the freefem3d package we can use the following command:
sudo apt-get remove freefem3d
Uninstall freefem3d And Its Dependencies
To uninstall freefem3d and its dependencies that are no longer needed by Ubuntu 18.04, we can use the command below:
sudo apt-get -y autoremove freefem3d
Remove freefem3d Configurations and Data
To remove freefem3d configuration and data from Ubuntu 18.04 we can use the following command:
sudo apt-get -y purge freefem3d
Remove freefem3d configuration, data, and all of its dependencies
We can use the following command to remove freefem3d configurations, data and all of its dependencies, we can use the following command:
sudo apt-get -y autoremove --purge freefem3d
References
Summary
In this tutorial we learn how to install freefem3d package on Ubuntu 18.04 using different package management tools: apt, apt-get and aptitude.
