Is there an easier way to install software?
I'm currently running Slackware 10 with KDE. This is my first experience with Linux and one thing that's struck me the most is the lack of any sort of standard way to install software.
It seems like every piece of software or every driver I download has a completely different way to install it. Some come with the only the source and I have to make a config file, make and then make the install (I've had little success with actually getting this to work right... I never understood why the compiled versions were not available) etc Others come in a format that I can use pkgtool with Others come in an rpm format which apparently is only for certain distros... I've also seen stuff with a .run extension Why isn't there a standard installation package format? Or maybe I'm just totally missing something... How do I uninstall something once it's installed? |
slackware has the simplest of all package systems...
you can install, upgrade, or remove any package easily: installpkg example-1.0.tgz upgradepkg example-1.0.tgz removepkg example it doesn't get any simpler than that... what third-party software are you installing?? the "standard" linux installation format is the (source code) gzipped tarball... you won't find a "standard" binary package format that works across distros... there's three main package formats (RPM, DEB, and TGZ) along with a few other not so mainstream ones, and that's a good thing... slackware packages have the TGZ extension... RPM packages are for red hat-based distros... DEB packages are for debian-based distros... if you want a good website where you can find third-party slackware packages, try: http://www.linuxpackages.net |
Thanks for the reply. I did some independent research on the matter and came across the realization that each distro has their own way for a reason. I also came across a site called linuxpackages.net that has Slackware packages for just about everything.
I just got frustrated trying to get mplayer to work because I had to compile from source and I don't think it was building correctly. I eventually got it to run, but couldn't get it to play anything... lol I'll try the packaged version when I get home... I suppose this is one of the reasons there are very few commerical games available for Linux... |
yeah, linuxpackages.net is really neat if you need some third-party packages...
they also provide the build-scripts for some of the packages so you can build them yourself... making your own slackpacks is fun... =) |
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but there are several game developers that provide linux versions of their games (some of them even run better on linux than windows)... anyways, while you wait for the market to grow to a point where linux game development becomes a lucrative business, you can always try running your windows games on linux with emulation: http://www.transgaming.com |
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