just do it this way.

being in the folder where wvdial-1.60.1.i386.deb is

apt-get install ./wvdail-1.60.1_i386.deb


But the biggest this always being missed is

How one can do apt-get when he/she has not been able to establish internet connection yet.
In may case I am trying to install wvdial by downloading the .deb package but everything is ending with "this not found" and "that not found" I mean a lot of dependency issues.

My humble request to all the LINUX developers and Masters is "Why not make packages which includes the solution to the dependencies of that package itself ? I mean why not include all the required libraries etc. in the package itself.

I have installed debian 6 now and just struggling to make my ZTE EVDO working on it. For me; I will struggle for it. But a newcomer will ALWAYS revert back to the Win dows. Isn't it.

I STRONGLY feel that this type of dependency issues have made my Deeaaarest LINUX still struggling to dance on maximum computer screens of maximum home and small office AND big office users.

I hope a BIG LINUX community will seriously think about it.

Thanks and long live open source.
Rajesh.

People have thought about this problem.

That's why apt-get, wvdial, pppd, et al are on install cds.

hey people,

this is just in case someone else also comes in looking for info and wants to know if something has changed in the last 6 months. (plus, airtel 3G USB has only recently became available in Indian cities.)
thing is, one does need a LAN or wi-fi firs to download/install wvdial. only then can we use USB devices. on the other hand i guess its better than to have everything stuffed in my system when i don't know if i'll need it. i had this website address (http://alumnit.ca/wiki/index.php?page=WvDial) given by my software manager which wasn't working any more.so though the package was available in my system i could not install it even after connecting to the internet at first.

so then i googled and came to this website.

I just used
"sudo apt-get update"
and
"sudo apt-get install wvdial"
for my linux mint [12 (lisa), Gnome 32-bit]
then "wvdialconf" and used airtel USB device to connect to the internet. it works perfectly well.

thanks everyone for the discussion and info. this was the first time i installed a package myself using the terminal and though this was a tiny thing, i like the fact that i could do it myself!

cheers!!