Want to use a package that isn't in your distro but don't want to build it by hand? Linuxbrew to the rescue!

Linuxbrew is a port of homebrew that's just as easy to use. This is really great if you're running an older Linux distro for compatibility reasons or if you want newer software that just isn't in your distro yet.

Setup is really simple. Just run their setup script directly via ruby:

$ ruby -e "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Linuxbrew/install/master/install)"

This unpacks into ~/.linuxbrew and modifies your ~/.bashrc to include it in your path. You'll want to open a new terminal window to get these changes and be able to use the program.

To install a package, such as Googler, just run the brew install command as on Mac OS X:

brew install googler

Search for packages to install via brew search:

$ brew search python
app-engine-python        gst-python               python                   python3                  zpython                
boost-python             micropython              python-markdown          wxpython

The results list packages matching your request. Install one with brew install as above.