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Old 12-27-2005, 10:57 PM   #1
Dark_Sniper*
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Installing Software on Debian Systems


ok i got Debian up and stuff, i was reading and to install software you have to be in root in command line and stuff is that true ? or can one be in kde and have the internet on and download and do it by termanil ? and where does one find a site that tells most of the links where to find the software at ?
 
Old 12-27-2005, 11:05 PM   #2
nadroj
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search google or here at lq.org for installing software. keywords would be 'package manager/management'.. thats very important. in researching this, youll learn about installing from 'source'.. and you should note/learn that, whenever possible, install software using the package for your distribution (ie not from source).

in general, yes you would have to be logged in as root to install something (only to a location that you dont have permission to write to, but,yes, in general you do need to be root).

you can be in kde.. gnome.. fluxbox.. or just basic terminal... internet or no internet to install software. as long as you have the install file(s) (package) downloaded.
for most packages youll need to open up a 'konsole' (in kde) or other terminal emulator program and run afew commands to install it.

i see your using debian.. itll be very wise to look up and read aobut 'apt-get'..itll be your best friend if your installing/modifying/removing software installations.

where to download? anywhere.. search google.. yahoo.. any other search engine.
afew popular linux package sites are: freshmeat.net and sourceforge.net

edit: check out this link for info about apt

Last edited by nadroj; 12-27-2005 at 11:14 PM.
 
Old 12-27-2005, 11:25 PM   #3
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Thanks this helps me out alot .
 
Old 12-28-2005, 11:49 AM   #4
XavierP
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I've renamed this thread to give it a more meaningful title
 
Old 12-28-2005, 12:25 PM   #5
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thanks you.
 
Old 12-29-2005, 06:14 AM   #6
michapma
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Hi Dark_Sniper*,

In my opinion, one of the very best things about Debian is that once you have it up and running, you have a huge amount of software available to you, and it's really easy to install and manage software. The software programs that install and manage software are called package managers, and in Debian, all software comes in packages. You don't need to install from source code, although you can. (Packages come both as source code and as binaries; usually binary packages are fine.)

There is a software package named Synaptic that is usually recommended to those new to Linux and Debian. Synaptic is useful because it is a graphical tool that lets you install, upgrade and remove software packages just like you can with APT. In fact, behind the scenes, Synaptic uses APT, which belongs to the fundamental Debian packages. (Commands such as apt-get are part of APT.) When you installed Debian, APT came with it, and Synaptic may or may not have been installed, depending on the installation choices you made.

A good exercise for you would be to use APT commands in a terminal in order to check whether Synaptic is already installed. (If you have Gnome installed, Synaptic is likely already installed.) Here are some steps to help you do that. Note that commands following "$" are executed under your normal account, and commands following "#" are executed as root.

1. Open a terminal window in KDE or Gnome (such as Konsole, gnome-terminal, xterm, etc.)

2. Enter the following command:
Code:
$ apt-cache policy synaptic
apt-cache is an APT command. It will produce output similar to this:
Code:
$ apt-cache policy synaptic
synaptic:
  Installed: 0.55+cvs20050503-4
  Candidate: 0.55+cvs20050503-4
  Version Table:
 *** 0.55+cvs20050503-4 0
        500 http://debian.ethz.ch stable/main Packages
        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status
If your output looks like this, then Synaptic is already installed. If it says "Installed: (none)", then Synaptic is not already installed.

3. Regardless of whether Synaptic is installed, switch to root user by typing in the command "su" (stands for switch user, and if no user is specified, switches to super-user), hit Enter, and give root's password. Now you will see a # sign at the command-line prompt.

4. Simulate installing the Synaptic package by giving the following command:
Code:
# apt-get -s install synaptic
The "-s" is called a switch: it is an option to the command apt-get, and stands for simulating the installation without actually doing it. (You can find out about other options by typing in "apt-get --help".) If Synaptic was already installed and up to date, you'll get output that looks similar to this:
Code:
# apt-get -s install synaptic
Reading Package Lists... Done
Building Dependency Tree... Done
synaptic is already the newest version.
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
If Synaptic was not already installed, you'll get messages that show a simulation of synaptic and any other packages on which it depends (which could be a small or large number of packages) being installed and configured.

5. If Synaptic is not installed and you would like to install it, run the command without -s:
Code:
# apt-get install synaptic
Now Synaptic will be fetched from your sources (likely to be CD or from the Internet) and installed.

6. Now you can use Synaptic to install, manage and remove other software packages. There are various ways to do that. Synaptic must be run with root privileges. From Gnome, choose (from the menu) Applications > System Tools > Synaptic Package Manager. (Unless I'm wrong, it should be there after you've installed Synaptic.) I'm not so sure if there is an entry in the K menu in KDE, but you can look around. From the terminal, you need to use the su command to switch to root (you still should be logged in as root), and then just type in
Code:
# synaptic &
The & at the end isn't necessary, but that allows you to keep the prompt free at the terminal while Synaptic is running. (If you open Synaptic with the terminal, it's a good idea to keep that terminal open until you close Synaptic, because closing the terminal might close Synaptic, which if it's running an installation could cause problems.)


It's important that you realize that package management, even when made easy, is somewhat complicated. Packages usually depend on other packages, and there are metapackages that bind large groups of packages together. Read the docuentation for Synaptic if you're going to use it, because this will save you a lot of headaches. (From Synaptic, press F1 or from the menu bar choose Help > Contents.) You can also read the APT How-To which is linked in my signature.

hope that helps
 
Old 12-29-2005, 07:15 AM   #7
coralsaw
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michapma,

FWIW, I'd like to say that posts like yours are the best example of how to help a newbie. Many thanks for helping out the community.

/coralsaw
 
Old 12-29-2005, 10:24 AM   #8
Dark_Sniper*
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wow dude thanks alot that is a very good explainion for me to understand aot thanks Michapma
 
Old 12-29-2005, 02:51 PM   #9
michapma
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Yeah well I didn't exactly get much work done today otherwise.

Just want to help others as I've been helped.
 
Old 01-01-2006, 09:40 PM   #10
Dark_Sniper*
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ok well today i install tghe synaptic and i dont understand how to use it nothing pops up or anything ? does it run the program when one downloads any type of pkg. And isntalls itself or what does it do ?
 
Old 01-01-2006, 09:44 PM   #11
nadroj
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sorry couldnt understand what your asking in that post.. can u edit and change the errors or clear it up, thanks

from what i could make out of it:

synaptic should be in a menu somewhere, after properly installed. when run, u select from the list a program to install, it will display what its doing while it installs it.
when u download a package for your distribution, it isnt automatically installed, it must be installed through your package manager.
 
Old 01-01-2006, 10:59 PM   #12
Dark_Sniper*
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Ok yea thats what i meant lols orry was to tried to type it all out. But anyways when i do click on it, nothing happens at all which is weird after reading your post. I know its installed i just checked. All it does it after i click it goes back to the desktop liek nothing.
 
Old 01-01-2006, 11:06 PM   #13
nadroj
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run it from a terminal.
open a console/terminal window and type the name of the program and enter (synaptic). this should be the command to run it. it will print out output to that window, copy and paste it

edit: if it says command not found, try typing 'su' to get root priviledges, then run the command again.

also, reread your posts before you post them.
 
  


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