Trying to install cairo-dock
I downloaded the tarball
Extracted to my desktop and now I am trying to copy it to my /opt and this is what I get

"evan@evan-laptop:~$ sudo cp /home/evan/Desktop/cairo-dock /opt
cp: omitting directory `/home/evan/Desktop/cairo-dock'"

But I am not gettig the folder in the /opt folder......

I need to install the cairo-dock
This is what is in it

"evan@evan-laptop:~$ ls /home/evan/Desktop/cairo-dock
amarok.svg folder.svg mozilla-firefox.svg
azureus.svg gaim.svg music.svg
beagled.svg gconf-editor.svg ooo-calc.svg
cairo-dock gnome-audio.svg ooo-impress.svg
cairo-dock.c gnome-calculator.svg ooo-writer.svg
cairo-dock.c~ gnome-fs-home.svg search.svg
cairo-dock.copy1 gnome-gimp.svg start-cairo-dock.sh
chat.svg gnome-terminal.svg sticky-notes.svg
clock.svg gxine.svg stop.svg
computer.svg im.svg tango-colors.h
configure.scan lockscreen.svg terminal.svg
dc++.svg logout.svg user-home.svg
development.svg lowfat.svg user-trash-full.svg
editor.svg Makefile web-browser.svg
email.svg movies.svg xmms.svg"

please use better thread titles in future. "help" is of no use and gives no information at all into the problems you have.

no sure where "But" comes from... it's very clearly saying it's not going to copy that directory... try adding an -r flag...

What distribution are you using? It would probably be easier to install using your package manager.

I am using ubuntu 7.10 and it is not in the package manager

Whereas you can move an entire directory using the mv command, you cannot copy a directory using cp, without specifying the -r option. acid_kewpie already suggested the correct solution, have you tried it?

Furthermore, take in mind that you can extract an archive to another location (instead of the current directory) using the -C option of tar.

ok, it successfully moved to the opt folder, but I am not sure how to install it. I am trying this "sudo apt-get install /opt/cairo-deck
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
E: Couldn't find package"

But I am obviously doing it wrong. Please help on the issue

use the .deb files, don't hassle with tarballs


Just download the .deb files.
Double click the non-plugin one first. Click 'INSTALL'.
Then double the click the plugin package. Click 'INSTALL'.

Libraries will automatically be installed.

http://tombuntu.com/index.php/2008/0...ll-cairo-dock/

and
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/CairoDock

Here is a screenshot of one guy's configuration. It does look nice:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mskadu/2459390671/

Install the cairo-dock package, and then cairo-dock-plug-ins by double-clicking them.

I downloaded and extracted both tarballs, but I am not sure where do double click?

don't bother with the tarballs. Go the sites in the links and instructions for installing it. Download the .deb files. Click the .deb files to install them, in the order they indicate.

Download the .deb files from here:
http://developer.berlios.de/project/...?group_id=8724

There are two .deb files to download, one is for the plugins, the other isn't. Dowload both. Click to install the non-plugins .deb file first, then click to install the plugins .deb file.

.deb files are like .rpm files for fedora and other rpm-based distributions. .deb files are for debian-based systems, like ubuntu. People take the source code (what you have been trying to install, tarballs) and make it easier for people by making .deb files out of them.

That's great! Thank you so much!!

No problem! I am glad it finally worked for you.

In general, when you want to install software on ubuntu, check to see whether or not it is in some repository using synaptic (you can google to see if there is some repository you can add to the synaptic list). You can also enable the universe and multiverse ubuntu repositories using synaptic. The reason to use synaptic and repositories is that the repository is a collection of all the .deb files needed (some .deb files depend upon other .deb being installed first, like the example of the non-plugin .deb file for cairo-dock needing to be installed before the plugin .deb file can be installed). If the package is in a repository, then you know that all of the .deb files your package depends upon are also in the repository, and synaptic will figure out which .deb files are needed and install them in the required order. This is called handling dependencies.

If it is not in a software repository, the next thing to do is do a google search to find if there is a .deb file for your package. Sometimes you will find that to install the .deb file, you must first have another .deb file installed and have the correct version number installed. This is a little more difficult than using synaptic, because you will have to track down and install the .deb files your package requires yourself.

Tarballs are used as a last resort in a debian-based system.

Using the package manager (synaptic) has another big advantage. You can run synaptic to update your system. This will check all of your packages and compare them with the latest versions in the repositories you use. If there is an update, synaptic will make sure to update your packages for you, installing and un-installing all the .deb files that are required to do this.

If you have problems with ubuntu, you can check with the friendly ubuntu support forums here:

http://ubuntuforums.org/

Synaptic can also be used to search all of your enabled repositories for a package name or some words that describe what the package does.