Ok I am very new to linux, I first tried a unbuntu distro and also a linux mint distro which seemed to install and work fine. Then out of curiosity I have changed distros again over to PCLinuxOS 2007-beta which I feel is a great improvement over ubuntu versions and I am glad to have made the switch. The one problem I have is a simple one for the knowledgeable xperts here.....

Im looking to download opera browser from http://www.opera.com/download/ but can I ask which version should I be looking at to download from the page and should I download as a TAR.GZ format.

Once downloaded, how do I go about installing. Using ubuntu/mint distros the downloads used to install themselves, but on opening a downloaded tar.gz I just see the files inside that make up the .gz, which, once when clicked on just opens up the script/code. Im guessing I need to learn and use a terminal ??

Any advice much appreciated

I downloaded the Opera 9 tar.gz file. You can see what is actually in the file by opening a terminal window and entering the tar command to list a compressed file.
When we look in the file we see that it wants to put all of its files in one directory that is named opera-9.10-20061214.6-shared-qt.i386-en-521. We can see that some of the files in the directory include a file named install.sh but we can also see that it looks like all of the files that we need to run Opera right out of that directory already exist in the correct place.

So I tried to just expand the tar.gz file and see if I could run the opera binary straight out of that location. I got an error saying that the binary named opera was not located in the /bin directory. So I created a link in the /bin directory pointing to the opera binary and that worked.

However I think that they want people to run the install.sh script. I read it. It's nice. So this is what I recommend that you do.

Download the tar.gz file. For my examples I will say that you have downloaded the file to /tmp.

Log on as root.
Change your current working directory to /tmp.
Use tar to expand the tar.gz file.
This will create a directory called /tmp/opera-9.10-20061214.6-shared-qt.i386-en-521.

Change your current working directory to the new directory.
Run the install.sh program.
Hopefully that will install Opera 9. When you have finished installing Opera you should delete all of the files that you created in the /tmp directory.

One interesting thing will result from this. Since PCLinuxOS already has a version of Opera installed you might end up with both versions of Opera. I don't know if the install.sh file will find the old version of Opera and upgrade it or not. If the install.sh file does not upgrade Opera but installs the new version along side the old version then when you use the Start button to start Opera it will probably start the old version.

Let me know if you have trouble with this.

Note that I just tried running Opera. It seems to be okay but it does not appear to have Flash available.

PCLinuxOS is based on Mandriva, so you can download and install the RPM for Mandriva 2006/2007.

Actually I didn't think about installing from the software repository because I didn't think that it would have the latest version of Opera. I just checked and it does.

So, the latest version of Opera can be installed via Synaptic from the PCLinuxOS software repository.

stevelincsuk, the Synaptic software is that icon on the task bar that look like a Rubic's cube. Click on that. Put opera in the search box and click on search. You will see a listing for Opera 9.02. Click on that and then click on the "Apply" button.

In my own defense about my previous post it is not always clear whether to answer a question exactly as it is asked or whether to tell the poster to take a different approach. Sometimes people want to use a particular technique. Other times they just don't know that a better way exists to do something. I just didn't think about using Synaptic when I read the part of the original post asking how to use the tar.gz file. I focused on the method rather than the goal.

stress_junkie/reddazz

Many thanks for the detailed reply, installing from the synaptic software repository worked a treat. I do have further questions on the extraction of tar.gz to ask but at the moment time is short here (due to work and family time) and I do not have to compose it fully, I will probably post a new reply to this thread tommorow night regarding this question.

The method you show me was great, its stuff like this I want to know and learn, different ways and techniques are all a part of learning

Quick question regarding rpm files, I did download the mandriva rpm to try this method but when I double click the file it ask me what to open with - to which program should I be pointing this

Many thanks for your time, much appreciated

Steve

Do not know what rpm manager PCLinuxOS, but can install rpms from command line:
# rpm -ivh <filename>
Hopefully, it'll install without dependency problems.

Did find Opera on the PCLinuxOS mirrors, but not Opera 9.1:
http://ftp.heanet.ie/pub/pclinuxos/a.../RPMS.nonfree/

You install rpm packages using the rpm command or rpmdrake which is a GUI frontend for rpm.

Synaptic shows version 2:9.02-1tex available. I think that translates to v9.02.

Hmmm. Okay so it looks like the PCLinuxOS repository doesn't have v9.1 yet, as you said. So, funny thing. If he wants the latest version he will have to do the tar.gz thing after all.

Evidently I'm not paying attention today.

Is PCLinuxOS 2007 beta not built on the foundations of Mandriva 2006/2007? If it is, then the Mandriva 2006/2007 rpms for Opera 9.1 from the Opera website will probably work.