sorry if this question appears naive to you.i am a beginner.heres my problem.
i don't have internet at my place. i know a bit how to download n install softwares when u have internet but nothing when u don't have internet. for example i want amarok on my machine. how do i do it? i am using kubuntu 8.04.

Generally, it might be very time consuming without the internet. Usually a distro has its package manager: synaptic (apt-get) or yumex (yum), which makes installation of software an easy process. If one wants to install amarok, the package manager will also install all the dependencies (other programs that amarok depends on to run). You can download the amarok .deb package eg. at your friend's computer and copy it on a pendrive, but you'll face problems with dependencies when you try to install it on your system (dpkg -i skypeblablabla.deb)

However, there might be another way. Isn't amarok a part of a standard installation media? Did you install Kubuntu from a Live CD or an installation DVD? If you've got amarok on your dvd, what you need to do is to point apt-get sources.list to your dvd (instead of online repositories).

Long ago I used apt-zip and wrote this up: http://linuxbasics.org/tutorials/using/apt-zip

The main problem is that you need a linux computer connected to the internet. I think maybe they have it set up where you can use Windows, though, or maybe a LiveCd. The other thing that can be challenging is finding the correct mountpoint since most people are now using usb drives rather than zip drives for portable media.

I would love to update the page on this; so let me know what you find on apt-zip used on a non-linux machine if you do find something.

The best thing about apt-zip is that you will get all the dependencies you need.

There is aptoncd too. If somebody else has the same kubuntu, simply install aptoncd on that computer and ......

is KDE based. Amarok has some KDE dependancies so it should be completely compatable.
If you use the native package manager it should work on .
type this in the terminal
if that does not work due to network problems, find the dependancies (files it needs to run) and download them as well. then run the dpkg command sycamorex mentioned above. Run that command in the directory you have them downloaded to on each .deb package needed.

You need to get a CD/DVD with the needed packages. This usually means that you go somewhere, where an Internet-connected PC is set up, and you download either a full IO or collect tons of applications packages (RPM, DEB or tarballs). You then burn it all to a CD/DVD and return home to your PC with all the treasures.

You then install the packages using the appropriate package manager, or simply unpack the tarballs.

To sum it all up: You need an Internet connection, though it doesn't have to be your own connection and not even at your own location. Some years ago Linux CD's where sold in bookshops or computershops, but these days, due to the Internet, those distribution channels became obsolete.

Debian