I plain on using fedora core 2 to learn linux. My problem is this how do you install software. It does not seem to be a standard software installation like windows

I haven't used Redhat in several years but I used to install by typing from the console:
rpm -ivh appname.rpm

If you are upgrading:
rpm -Uvh appname.rpm

yum also works ex. yum install korozion would install the program korozion

The easiest way is to download a .rpm file (NOT a .src.rpm file) click on it...and watch what happens. If you download the Fedora Core 2 specific rpm file it should work perfect, if say you download a suse 8.1 rpm file you may need to download a dependency for it to work (a message will appear telling you what is wrong). If you can't find a .rpm file for fedora or another distro that works then you will have to download a tar.gz or a tar.bz2. Here is how to install these files from the command line

for rpm files there are two main ways

rpm -i newprogram.rpm
--or--
rpm -UvH newprogram.rpm

I always use rpm -i unless specifically told to do something else.

to uninstall an rpm file use this

rpm -e program

for tar.gz files you are actually downloaded the source code and you have to turn it into machine code right at your computer, here's how you do it.

tar -xvzf newprogram.tar.gz
ls
--look for the new directory that was made, use ls | more if it went by too fast--
cd newdirectory
--here is where there will be a readme or install file to read that will help you, if there is none try this--
./configure
make
make install
--you can delete the .tar.gz file if it installed right and you want to save disk space--

to uninstall cd into the directory it made and run these commands

make uninstall
make clean
--then you can delete the folder that the program made--

for the uncommon tar.bz2 file I don't know...sorry. Also just for reference FC2 cannot use .tgz or .deb packages.

Thanks for the reply but what sites can I go to so I can mainly get fedora rpm's.? I'd like to deal with the fedora rpm so can stay away from this dependency problem.

Excuse me, but.... What???!!!?? Dependencies are dependent on the program, not the distro.

If the Mozilla Firefox web browser is dependent on the Mozilla web browser (which it is), it's dependent on Mozilla on all distributions, and downloading any possible Fedora Core .rpm for Firefox and installing it is still going to fail if you don't install the (Fedora Core) .rpm for Mozilla beforehand. It has nothing to do with whether it's a SuSE or Mandrake RPM. Those will (probably) fail to install on FC, that's true-- but the reason is that FC, Mandrake and SuSE have different internal file structures, use different versions of support libraries, and may install the final program to different locations than each other, so the program 1) may not be able to find the libraries it needs to run; 2) may not be able to find the correct version of the library it needs to run; 3) may be installed to a location that makes it difficult for you to find, even if it did work (because the $PATH$ variable may not be the same under these distributions).

Which is why it's better to use .rpms from your distribution's repository, and to install something like Yum or Synaptic (which are front-ends to apt, the Debian package management tool that has been ported to work with RPM distros like FC) to install them, in order to have automatic dependency resolution.

I really don't know why people persist in using rpm, which has no dependency resolution whatsoever.

watts3000, you can go to [freshrpms.net] - Apt to learn more about installing apt for RPM distros, and to also get some repositories to draw from; the site also offers Fedora RPMs, and many links to other sites which offer Fedora RPMs.

Guys I just downloaded tightvnc server. I created a folder in root called software. I than lunched a console and went to that directory I typed yum install tightvnc-server-1.29-1.i386.rpm. I got a message back saying cannot find a package matching tightvnc-server-1.29-1.i386.rpm. Do I need to put in spaces or something or does spaces matter when installing software in linux.

Watts you crossed directions! SInce you downloaded the rpm already, you should just install it. I've installed vnc several time,s i belie it goes like this:

same directory where you tried yum -
su
give passwd
rpm -i tightvnc*

That should install it, then you'll need to get it running, which takes the command: vncserver.

It will force you to create a vnc passwd, which can also be done by the vncpasswd command. By the way - DONT set vnc to allow you in as root. vnc in as a regular user, and then su to root if you need it. You'll want to configure vnc for full graphical access, like the windows version. In its base install, it just gives you a terminal, which is great if you can use the terminal, but if you need the GUI, you'll want to modify the configs to get full xwindows running. There is pages on the tightvnc website telling you how to set up xwindows for vnc, it is easy, just modifying one config file.

Peace,
JimBass

I guess you should post your own thread instead of hijacking someone else's.

Moderator note: motub, I've split the thread. In case like this one you can always report the post and ask to split the thread.
/end of moderator note

There are also more polite ways to express that someone did something wrong, just IMHO.

Thank you; I'll note that for the future.

There are more polite ways to express your displeasure that the forum has not come to your immediate assistance, too.

In any case, back to the regularly scheduled program.