Tech Tip: Using the Synaptic Package Manager to Ease Installations
on June 23, 2009
On Debian based systems, or any that use Synaptic for package management, you can use Synaptic to help you setup multiple systems with the same software. On the first system select all the packages you want and then under the File menu use Save Markings or Save Markings as to save your selections to a file. If you save the file to a USB stick, you can then use Read Markings on subsequent installs to quickly duplicate your selections.
This is also handy when you are doing a fresh re-install or installing a new version of Linux so that you don't have to go through package selection each time.