I am new to Linux, but I learn kuickly.

I run Mandriva 2006, KDE 3.4. I know how to install RPMs - it is easy. But I do not know how to install applications that are not provided as RPM. Specifically, I have downloaded Mozilla Thunderbird from its website. I have unpacked it (it was tar.gz) and now I do not know what do to with those files, where to put them etc.
I know maybe I will have to use the terminal, but I have not used it yet. Please be very descriptive.

Thank you very much for supporting my interest in Linux, I do want to give it up, although beginnings are hard.

From here it seems as if you don't need to do anything else after extracting. You can just open a terminal and change to the directory created by extracting the archive and then type "thunderbird" without the quotes:

$ cd thunderbird
$ thunderbird

Notes:

1. You do not need to type the $, that just shows you that you're at the prompt (if you were logged in as root, you'd see a # instead).

2. The directory you extracted the archive to may not be called thunderbird, use whatever is correct. When you open a terminal program, it will probably start in your home directory. If the "thunderbird" directory is not in there, you will need to specify the full path to it.

HTH.

Since you asked about installing software in general, the standard way to build from source is:Most (if not all) software you download will have a file called INSTALL (or, failing that, README) in the directory you extracted it to, which should contain the specific instructions for that program. But they'll almost certainly be the same as this, and if you can't find specific instructions, trying the above should work almost every time.

Ok, I extracted, I run the Terminal, I got to the specific directory, then I typed ./configure but I got following report

bash: ./configure: No such file or directory


Can you help what to do now?

Re-read what Nylex Posted int the first reply!!!

I tried to type thunderbird in the Terminal and got following:

bash: thunderbird: command not found

(I am sure I am in the correct directory because if I type "dir" I can see the "thunderbird" file being listed)


still at a loss, appreciate your help

try typing ./thunderbird

[user@box~]$ cd /usr/local/src
[user@box:/usr/local/src]$ tar -zxvf (or tar -jxvf if a .bz2) /directory/where/you/downloaded/thunderbird-version-xxx.tar.gz
[user@box:/usr/local/src]$ cd thunderbird-version-xxx
[user@box:/usr/local/src]$ ./configure
[user@box:/usr/local/src]$ make
[user@box:/usr/local/src]$ su (enter root password)
[root@box:/usr/local/src]$ make install
*** go make a few cups of coffee or even dinner while you wait for the compile to finish ***
[root@box:/usr/local/src]$ exit
[user@box:/usr/local/src]$ cd
[user@box~]$ which thunderbird
[user@box~]$ thunderbird &

Sometimes, when you try to run a program, it will differ from the tarball name, so if, at the command prompt you try:

[user@box~]$ thunderbird-version-xxx <ENTER>

most likely, it won't work. Most of the time, the program will just use the generic name - such as thunderbird.

Good luck.

:-)

Hello.

I also am trying to install Thunderbird 1.5 and after cd-ing into the thunderbird folder ./configure does not work. It will tell me

bash: ./configure: No such file or directory

typing ./thunderbird will bring up and run the Thunderbird program, but it does not INSTALL it.

The READ ME file only directs me to the release notes on the Thunderbird website: http://www.mozilla.com/thunderbird/releases/1.5.html

They are not at all helpful.

So, if ./thunderbird does not install it, and ./configure (or make, or make install, etc) does not work, what now??

Looking at the Thunderbird web-site, Installing section, it appears that this program does not need to be compiled. It seems that they supply it as binary-only, with a whole bunch of libraries and other components... and that all you do is to run the program, whereever you installed it.

I agree that the Linux "instructions" on their site are virtually non-existent, and that they definitely deserve to be creamed for this.

Note that, on Linux, when you want to execute a program in the current directory, you must precede it with "./"! This is by design. Unlike MS-DOS, Bash will not assume that, if there happens to be a program with such-and-such a name in your current directory, that's the one you want to run.

Hellow,

Since thunderbird is a graphical application you may want to try 'clicking' thunderbird in konqueror or any other kind of explorer.
When I installed firefox, I created a link on the desktop that points to yourdir/firefox-installer/firefox

That works perfectly without configuring or making.

Hope it does the trick for you to.

Greetings

OK. So what you are saying is that you don't INSTALL Firefox, you just run it from wherever you downloaded it to?

How do you integrate it as far as the applications menu goes?

It did download to my desktop, but that is not exactly a tidy place to keep. Being still pretty new to Linux, where would be a 'normal' place to move this to?

Untar it. Move the directory somewhere useful and global (e.g. /usr/share/thunderbird).

Then create a symlink from /usr/bin to the executable so that anyone can use it:

now anyone can type 'thunderbird' to run it, or you can create a desktop icon.

I followed you until:

"Then create a symlink from /usr/bin to the executable so that anyone can use it..."

Like I said, I am relatively new to Linux, I am learning fast, but I haven't created a symlink yet. Not even sure what that is.

Thanks.

It's like a shortcut, Komakino even gave you the command to create one.