i am very new to linux and have been dependent on boards like this to help me through the early stages so before i start i want to say thank you to anyone who helps me with this question or has given a reply to someone else's question that i have used.

I haven't really had any problems installing programs however after the programs are installed i can't find them. i am used to windows where my new programs appear in the start menu without me doing anything however firefox, winrar and a few other things i installed are not in the menu or on the desktop. i was able to find a way to put firefox on my desktop but only by creating a link to application and i still can't find my other programs. i want to have firefox on my desktop with its proper icon and i'd love to be able to use the other programs i have loaded

could someone leave a detailed explanation "step by step" because i am still not very good with linux (still stuck in the window's mind frame)

thank you very much

Hey, welcome to Linux :P

People would find it easier to help you out, especially with step-by-step, if you told us some information..

What distrobution of Linux are you using?
How did you install FireFox? RPM ?

Cheers,

I am using pclinuxos

i installed firefox form a tar.gz
i also installed winrar from a tar.gz
i have installed limewire from rpm
and also a few other things that i don't really care about (they were also from rpm)

i know i installed firefox correctly because i am using it right now
i did the exact same thing for winrar so i am asuming i did it right
Bit Torrent (along with the rest of my rmps) seems to have worked because after installation the only option kpackage gave was uninstall.

i hope this helps

thank you

Lemur

to use firefox i went ot the directory all its files were in and found something called "firefox" it is a shell script but i still don't know how to launch it properly

rpm -q "package-name without the quotes"
will tell u what u want

i know for my firefox installation i did as you, placed a shortcut to the shell script, which works just fine for launching the program. however, you want the icon....right click the shortcut on desktop and go to properties, in the properties (you will have to look i cant remember where) you can change the icon. when you change the icon it will give you the option to browse, do so, inside the firefox folder and into the icons folder. there are 2 sized icons in there, one for the "start" menu and one for desktop. you can also add firefox to the "start" menu in it's properties and then give it the right icon the same way.

ps... the icon change did not actually show on desktop until i had relogged

thank you very much this all worked perfectly i have done similar things for the rest of my programs. i now believe that linux will become my new fav OS

sweet, it is quickly becoming my fave. as soon as i get the money to pay for cedega i should get rid of windows

Why not just install Firefox through Synaptic? Much easier and it adds a menu entry.