I'm a newb to the Linux world so please forgive my ignorance. I just got SUSE 10.0 up and running on my ThinkPad X31 with wireless connection

Anyways, whenever I download software with the extention "tar.gz", well I don't know how to install it! Like I know how to install rpm (thanks to YaST). But with tar.gz I always get a bunch of files and I havn't a clue what to do with them. I see a file that says install, but when I click it, nothing happens. I'm guessing something has to be done in Konsole/XTerm ... any help?!

Thanks in advance,

- I Love Lagar -

This is usually a source code distribution of a software product, and the install file is usually a text file with instructions. The instructions usually indicate that you need to issue these commands when in the directory on the command line:

./configure
make

and then as root:

make install

Read the instructions carefully; there are usually pre-requisite software packages (sometimes many) that have to be installed when installing software from source.

yes what you downloaded is the program's source code... and yes will require using a console/terminal emulator

extract the archive to a folder, 'cd' to that new folder. in there, as u stated, should be an 'install' and 'readme' file(s). read the readme first, then read the install. it should have straightforward instructions. you may have to log in as root at one time too

any more problems 'compiling' and installing the source code, ask away

well, when you
tar -zxvf file.tar.gz
you get a folder with a bunch of files. This is most likely source code, which needs to be compiled before you can run it.
What did you download?

Anyway, open a terminal and go into the new folder, and look around for a file called README or INSTALL (mind the caps).
You can view this file by using
less filename
or
vi filename
or whatever editors are installed on your system. (less might be easiest for starters)

README/INSTALL will contain instructions. In the simplest of cases it can be as quick as three commands like:
./configure; make; make install
and in the hardest cases you will first need to download and install other software, tweak the settings, etc. etc.

Until you are more comfortable with linux I suggest you stick to the software offered by whatever package manager you use.

Okay, bunkie: Change to the directory the files were extracted to and type the following:

./configure && make && su -c make install

Here's the explaination: ./configure checks your environment to make sure that everything is where it should be so that the program can be compiled and it writes the make file. The double ampersand tells the terminal to wait until the command preceding has completed successfully, then run the next command in the string. make compiles the necessary parts for the program. su -c make install is a bit more involved--in order to install your freshly compiled program into the system, you need to have root access, so su -c invokes the super user for the command immediately following; in this case make install which grabs all the compiled pieces parts and puts them where they belong. You can then run your new program.
I prefer stout to lager...

Dang, you guys are quick!

Gotcha ... and for AcidZebra, I downloaded an NES Emulator

Ok I followed the "Readme" instructions that came with the tar.gz. After entering in the commands in XTerm, a whole buncha lines went on and on ... that last few lines had stuff like "premission denied" and "error" ... I'm guessing this happened because I wasn't logged in as root.

Instead of having to logout and then login ... can I just start a "new root shell" session in konsole? and if so, can someone please tell me how to like enter a directory, for example:

when i enter konsole, it reads: Sam@linux:~>

so if i put in "dir" it shows me the different directories ... how would i go about entering one of the directories? like if i wanted to go into Bin or Documents

I'm asking about the directory part because i don't know how to start a Root session in konsole (that's if im not logged in as root), while im in the folder that contains the software files im trying to compile.

I know this must sound confusing, in which case I apologize.

Thanks in advance!

cd will change directories, so cd /home/tom/temp will put you in the /temp dir in the user tom's home dir. I would find a good "I installed linux now what" tutorial.

like i said in my first post, use 'cd' (change directory) to explore the folders on your system. the syntax is: cd directoryName/subDirectory

type 'man cd' to read the 'man'ual page for the cd command. or 'man cmd' where cmd is any command.. ie 'man ls' to learn about the 'ls' (list) command, which lists files and their attributes, etc.

when ur in the folder u extracted the source to, and do the ./configure, make.. u can type 'su' to become super user/root. youll need to supply the root password of course after executing this command... so do so, then continue finishing the install. when it is finished scrolloing all the text (note the last few lines after it finishes scrolling), type 'exit' to stop being 'root' and become your normal user account again.