Instructions for using modules and the module load command can be found here.
Spack is a package management tool that has simple syntax.
Spack load
Some packages and modules have what are called dependencies. A dependency is when a package requires the loading of another package in order to work correctly.
Spack greatly simplifies handling dependencies. The loading of a package with the spack load command will also load all of the packages dependencies.
The spack load command uses the following syntax:
$ spack load packagename
Spack list vs Spack find
Spack list works similarly to the module avail command; however, unlike module avail, spack list shows all the packages available upstream to our own RIT Research Computing Spack. That means, just because it’s listed does not mean it will work on our system. Instead, use spack find, which shows all the packages actually available. Of course if you see a package in spack list that is not in spack find, you can ask if it possible we can make it available.
Entering this command will bring up a list of all the available packages that spack could load.
$ spack list
Entering this command will bring up a list of all the available packages that spack can actually load and available to you.
$ spack find
When to Use Spack or Module Load
You should always use spack load when possible to ensure that you will that you will always get the correct version and that spack will handle all dependencies.
However, for licensed applications, such as MATLAB or Vasp, you need to use module load.