My confusion with Linux
 

So I have installed Suse Linux on my Windows PC about 5 days ago. I have managed to get everything working somewhat normally. I do have questions though just about the whole grand scheme of things...

What the hell are dependencies?? I know they really piss me off because anytime I try to install something new it says there are issues with them.

Is a Rpm the equivelent to an EXE file??

I really want VLC player on my linux box Why cant I just go download the one that says it is for Suse Linux 10.1 and just install it I looked at a tutorial on how to install it and it looked like it would take hours.

How come when I type some of the commnads in the console that people are saying I need to type to do this or that It does not recognize them??

If Linux is supported by so many great programmers How come nobody has just come up with a compilled package of a great media player, Including all codecs, MP3 palyer, Flash & Java stuff, WMV stuff, all wrapped up into one thing where all I have to do is like click on it and it all is installed and goes to the right directories?

Other wise so far I love it I just wish it wasnt so tedius to install software.:scratch:

Look at http://www.thejemreport.com/mambo/content/view/254

No software program has absolutely everything it needs in order to function. To some extent, the program depends on other programs or libraries. That is dependencies. Windows has the same thing, but programers tend to distribute the dependencies along with the software. Linux doesn't do that to avoid having a single program bork the whole system. It makes sense, it just isn't the way Windows works.
??
Nope. RPM files are more like a CAB file combined with installation instructions.

My guess is that Suse has a software installation program (Yum?) that will install software and resolve dependencies. If you really want it to be that click and go, you might want to check out Ubuntu, which uses Debian's apt-get and is generally regarded as an extremely easy way to install software.

They have, you just haven't figured it out yet. Linux is not Windows. It doesn't function the same way and it doesn't make the same assumptions. To be honest, if you're not willing to learn something new, you shouldn't be using Linux.
It isn't any more tedious. It is just different.

You might want to read this.

Follow the guide on the videolan forums.. looks like a lot of typing but relatively straightforward to instal VLC on Suse.. http://forum.videolan.org/viewtopic.php?t=21707


Sure makes me appreciate the guy that packaged all this up for Debian.. apt-get install vlc ahhh (yeah that is oversipmplified.. but not by much.. )

Linux (and all Unix-like operating systems) have many commands in common, but there are some differences between distributions. For instance, on SuSE and RedHat based systems, rpm is used from the command-line for package (software) management, while on Debian-based systems you use the apt group of commands. Also, it depends what you have installed on your PC - most of the "commands" you type in actually run programs that are not an integral part of the operating system. Typing apropos <keyword> can help you find equivalent commands on your system.

There is a program for Ubuntu (EasyUbuntu) that takes care of all this. Unfortunately, I don't believe anyone has come up with such a simple integrated solution for SuSE yet. However, most of this can be installed from Packman's repositories using YaST (add packman.iu-bremen.de/suse/<your version>/ to YaST's sources).

Yes, there is that. But then there is the amount of software that comes suppled with virtually every distro... (don't get that with Windows).

Rob.

I am totally willing to learn I just dont think that there is a whole lot of good explanations starting from the very begining in very simple terms. I was an expert DOS user back in the day but man all these years on Windows has really whacked my skills. I will start to read some of these links more and hopefully stuff will begin to be clear.

I hear that. Like you, I was good with DOS, but years of GUI had pretty much dulled my interest in computers. It wasn't until I gave Linux a try that I found how much I missed the command line, and how pathetic the DOS command line was. Stick with it and you're in for a real treat!