Hi guys, I have been a windows user all my life. Just started using linux few months ago and I loved it but everything is just too confusing.

When I want to install a software, there are 3 versions.

someprogram.noarch.rpm
someprogram.src.rpm
someprogram.tar.gz

Why not have an EXE like windows? And how do I install those?
I was told that you either BUILD or INSTALL
I got confused. I look up the documentation online and there isn't any that can clearly explain the Can anyone please point me to a good guide for installing linux RPM or softwares?

And for windows we have setup.exe . what is the equivalent for linux?
./make???

Please help me guys. I would love to love Linux but at this point it is giving me headaches.

Which distribution are you using? That would help us to make the answer more relevant.

For info on installing, go here - it's helped a lot of people.

I am using redhat 9

The guide above is very clear and concise.
Exactly what I wanted. Thanks

And will the world come to an end if I installed both RPM and tarballed version?
If not what will happen?

It should be fine. However, since RH is an rpm based distro, anything you don't install via rpm will not be picked up in the rpm database. Also, they are a little more tricky to uninstall. My suggestion is to go with rpms until you get the hang of it all.

So beginner should stick to RPM?

And where do you download the RPM file usually? /usr/src/ ?

Not just beginners Download them to your /home folder, open a console and run them - they will do the rest. You may hit what is known as "dependency hell" - this is where the rpm requires another program to run. And that program needs another, and that one needs another, and so on. You can make things much much easier with either Yum or Apt4Rpm - (www.google.com/linux will give you the links) - those programs resolve all dependences automatically which drastically cuts down on the amount of time you spend swearing at your computer.

To expand on my first sentence, using an rpm does not make you a newbie - rpm's are what rpm based distros use to install/update/uninstall programs, they are a tool. Use the system, get used to it, decide whether you like it or not. That's the best way to learn - there is no need at all to make it hard for yourself.

Xavier,

Thank you for your post.
Yes I did ran into the dependency hell so you were too late. ;-)
But luckily I managed to install it using the ignore dependency.

Whether or not I installed using an RPM, is the path to the program going to be the same?

OK let me use an example. I installed gotmail
I used the RPM install and it worked!
But I am actually using another program which need the path to gotmail.

I tried

updatedb;
locate gotmail;

This is what I got:

/var/spool/cpupdates/gotmail-0.8.1-1.noarch.rpm
/usr/share/man/man1/gotmail.1.gz
/usr/share/doc/gotmail
/usr/share/doc/gotmail/ChangeLog
/usr/share/doc/gotmail/COPYING
/usr/share/doc/gotmail/sample.gotmailrc
/usr/share/doc/gotmail/README

I can't find the binary!!!! Then there will be no path to gotmail for the other program to use it!.
But if I install using Tarball I will know what the path is because I uploaded the binary....am I right?
Sorry to sound stupid. But I was spoiled by Windows' simplicity and user friendliness.

You shouldn't ignore any dependencies, the program needs all the dependecies to function properly. When I install rpm's on Mandrake, the binaries are usually in /usr/bin.
Also I'd like to say that Mandrake is a way easier distro for beginners, their urpmi tools just kick ass. And Mandrake has loads of config tools and wizards.

I completely disagree - a beginner (and everyone else) should avoid RPM at all costs. It only leads to frustration and headaches when dependency problem after dependency problem arises.

Installing from source may sound daunting but it really isn't any harder than typing a few command and library requirements are FAR easier to satisfy.

I think RPM's must be the leading cause of migration from linux back to windows.

Mixing source and binary is not really a good idea if you are just starting out. This is in no way meant to be patronising or disparaging of your ability. When I am on a distro, I always try to stick with the method it prefers - rpms for RH/Fedora (or apt or yum), YAST + rpms for SuSE, rpms/URPMI for Mandrake, source for Slackware. Simply put, rpm based distros tend to "expect" you to use rpms - if you install a program via source and an rpm later needs that program, the rpm database will not be able to find it - you then need to chase things down manually.

Using the principles of KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid - that's what it stands for, not an insult ), I would always use rpms with an rpm based distro. If you need programs with are not on your cd, check out www.rpmfind.net or http://rpm.pbone.net/ - they have a huge amount of rpm files and are a great help.

Certainly mixing source and RPM is a bad idea - but that again is because of the RPM's not acknowledging software that was not installed from RPM. I actually believe that RPM's are partly holding linux back because they provide such a frustrating experience.

My bet is that if cpanelskindepot had installed whatever it is he's installing from source, rather than RPM, he would not now be in 'dependency hell' because whatever version of the dependency he currently has on his system would probably be 'enough' - unlike RPM which requires it to be 'exact'.

Thanks for helping

The funny thing is when I install the RPM it works and when I tried uninstalling using rpm -e it said the RPM is not installed. What a liar.
What about the path to the program if I install using RPM?
This is the main problem right now.

It's not lying, the process is slightly different for uninstalling the rpm.

To install you use the whole rpm name, right:

rpm -i wholename-x.y.x-.i386.rpm

to uninstall you use only the program name:

rpm -e wholename

(perhaps you need the version number - the x.y.z bit too, I can't remember, don't use rpm)

Oh and you can find the path using whereis or which

whereis programname

will give you the path to the executable and any libraries and man pages