General Questions From A Newbie....gawd, I Need Help!!!
 

I just installed RH/Fedora in a dual boot config on my system. I can do general stuff like, opening the web browser and etc. What I can't do (and to get to the point) is figure out how to install apps on this thing. I'm pretty good with Windows and the Mac OS so I know I can learn this, but I need a little help. I tried installing different things like a Java update, drivers for my video card. They just open in these long text files, is this how stuff installs in Linux? The same goes for Limewire and a whole sleu of other stuff I tried to install. Also, I installed Wine, and now I can't even find where it is in my system. I looked in the Apps folder and nothing. Should I have gone with another distro? Can anyone just give me a VERY basic rundown of how to install apps, and also some good basic utilities like anti-virus software etc. that I should have.

Please help, I've been told how easy this is to use, and I'm about to re-claim the 15gb I donated to install Linux back to Windows and pull my hair out. Thanks.

How exactly did you try to install? Using RPM or building from source? What do you mean by 'they just open in these really long text files'? Could you paste in a bit?

If you're using RPM's, I think it goes something like this (never used RH before):

hrm.. well don't give up yet. the challenge is half the fun. did you try a forum search? they do help ;) forum thread. try here. if that doesnt help there are some places listed there to go for help. i went out and bought the RedHat Linux Bible book when i started. worth every penny in getting started, and getting a foundation.

If the package is an .RPM file, use GnoRPM (in Gnome) or kpackage (in KDE) or this (as root) from a command line A source RPM (.SRC.RPM) is first rebuilt with this command as root: The last few lines of the output will tell you where the rebuilt RPM file is located.

If it is a .tar.gz then issue this command: It creates a new directory of <filename>. change to this directory and use these commands:HTH
Baldrick

On fedora, most applications are distributed as .RPM files, RPM stands for Redhat Package Manager. you can use a command line utility called "rpm" to "install" these files.

# rpm -ivh rpm_file.rm
the "i" in the -ivh stands for "install", the "v" stands for verbose mode, which shows you more useful information than -i, the "h" stands for hash marks, which show you a progress bar of sorts which tell you about the install.

In case you get a .tar.gz file, you must first unzip it

$ gzip -d file.tar.gz

the -d option stands for "deflate"

then, do a

$ tar -xvf file.tar

this will create a directory called "file"

$ cd file
$ ./configure
$ make
$ su
(enter your root password here)
$ make install

if you get a .deb package, you may want to convert it to an rpm first, and then install it.
theres a tool called deb2rpm , which you could use, not sure of its syntax though.

Have fun ! Best wishes for your linux adventure !

these suggestions will help you, but you must
remember one thing:
installing new software in Linux will not install
the executable in your menu, whether gnome
or kde, or anything else. Once you get the software
installed you will have to add it to the menu manually.
If not, you should start the app in a terminal.
Personally, I always download the tarball(tar.gz)...
and do:
./configure
make
su
make install

compiling your own programs seems complicated on
the surface, but its really pretty easy, and it will let you
know right away if you're missing libs,etc..
P.S. when you do the make install, make sure you notice
where it installs the executable...occasionally they get put
in a dir that isnt in your path, like /usr/local/kde/bin...in this
case you have to give the whole path to run it, or add it to
your path

one more thing:

once you unpack the tarball using
tar -xzvf , cd into the dir and read the
INSTALL and README files, they give you good
info on how to compile

There is no need to unzip a tar.gz file before deflating it. The z switch does that saving you from typing more code than is needed. i.e. Baldrick

agreed. just wanted to show him how it all worked. :)

Thanks to all that replied thus far, what I mean by "they just open in really long text files is...and I'll use LimewireLinux.bin as an example. It downloads, successfully I guess and puts a little icon in my "home" folder, I double click on that file and it opens with the following text:

#!/bin/sh

PATH=$PATH:/bin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/usr/sbin:/usr/local/bin
BLOCKSIZE=32768
ARCHSTART=2
ARCHSIZE=6132422
ARCHBLOCKS=188
DEFAULTPERMS=002
INSTALLER_OVERRIDE_VMLIST="J2 J1 MSJ MRJ"
INSTALLER_STDERR_REDIRECT="err.txt"
INSTALLER_STDOUT_REDIRECT="out.txt"
INSTALLER_HEAP_SIZE_INITIAL="16777216"
INSTALLER_HEAP_SIZE_MAX="100331648"
RESOURCE_DIR="Linux"
DEFAULT_UI_MODE="GUI"
#!/bin/sh

As you can tell, I have no idea what any of this means.

Please note I didn't include ALL the text because it is really long an I doubt I'd be allowed to post it anyway. The majority of files I downloaded behave this same way so I imagine that I'm supposed to take this text and do something with it. The question is what? I plan on going out to pick up a "Linux for Dummies" or "RH/Fedora for Dummies" soemtime this week . Still I appreciate all the help, I'm sure you guys get a million "noob questions" a day.

Also I was looking for an example on how to install software from the VERY beginning, meaning "oen this, and take this and cut/copy and paste here, then type this in, etc." I mean a very dumbed down explanation, if at all possible. Thanks, again.

what you see here (the long text file) is something known as a shell script. You can think of it as being like a batch file in the DOS/Windows world, but much much more powerfull. Basically, it contains a list of commands to be executed. As for why it's opening when you double click on it rather than running, it may be that the executable bit wasn't set on it.

You can also try running it from a terminal. Launch a shell (terminal) under your GUI and just type the path to the text file. If it runs, you have it, if not you probably need to make it executable. Try typing 'chmod +x filepath'.

As always, Google is your friend for more details on this, but hopefully I've gotten you started.

PROGRESS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

1)I tried installing a couple of things by opening terminal then typing "su root" then the path to whatever file I was trying to open. This appeared to wrok for the most part as far as "installing" stuff. Now the issue appears to be I can't run the file because it's own by root (stupid me) and now I don't know what to do. I'm still a little unclear on the "chmod" command it eithier says "too few arguments" or if I type literally "chmod+x (space)(filename) it will say "chmod+x command not recognized". Also I tried giving my self "execute permission on some stuff I downloaded, adn then it gives me a choice to run it, or run from terminal or just display it. Seems like I'm going in the right direction.

2)Does anyone know of a web browser that will let me import my I.E. favorites from Win XP?

3)Since I upgraded my "kernel" I have multiple entries in my startup manager screen asking which OS do I want to start. Is there any way to edit this menu? Just wanted to clean it up a little.

Thanks again to all that has help so far. Rest assure I'll be back with more annoying questions.

In command line mode you simply change ownership of the file to the user from root

[root@localhost root]# chown username filename
where username is the name of the user you want to change ownership to, and filename is the name of the file you want to change ownership of

I discovered rpm's (kinda) so that makes installing things a lot easier but now I need to know:

1)After I installed Limewire, where does it go? I tried using the "run application" command from my Hat menu (I guess it's called) and typed in "Limewire" and nothing. The same goes for terminal. Couldn't find how using Google or these forums.

2) I tried the command left by TJ72 (thanks!) and change the ownership of the file from root back to myself. That allowed me to move the file to the trash, but now it says that, I cannot modify the parent folder, so I can't delete it. It doesn't work using "rm" or "rmdir" eithier.........it will say that it's not a directory.

3)I tried using the "chsh" command to change my "shell" name and I get the error that "shell must be a full path name".........Methinks that I didn't type in the correct path? Could someone provide an example of what that would be?

4)Also could some PLEASE HELP on how to edit the login screen, I have the option of booting from three different versions of Fedora and Win XP, I just wanted to clean this up a little. I know which ones I want to delete.

-I figured out getting my favorites over,though I felt kind of dumb once I did. Mozilla rocks.



Again, thanks to all that took time to read my post. You all have been a major help. I'm really starting to like this.........Next step is to install drivers for my video card. Wish me luck!

you need to read alot of linux tutorials your on the right track though one you get the basics down the rest is a breeze. I've discoveded linux without the gui will keep everyone away from you pc.