can anyone explain how to download using linux?
 

I have just got a new pc and im used to using xp and vista but this one comes with ubuntu that works using linux. I have tried to download a few poker softwares but after download (usually it goes straight to install wizard, when using vista or xp) it asks that you open it with an application when all i want to do is install it on to my pc? please help if you can.

If your question is really about trying to run Windows software under Linux, you can't do it natively. You can try running those programs with WINE. If I have misunderstood your question, please clarify!

hi lora,
welcome to the linux world. Are you downloading a windoz binary ? what kind of extension your software has ?
In linux - there are couple of ways to download and install softwares - first binaries ( the rpms) and second way is to configure-make-make install the tar.gz / tar.bz files.

would be glad to help you out - but be more specific
bye
nishith

See Wine's website for information on how you may run (some) Windows applications on Linux. It would be better if the programs were natively made for Linux, but if that's not possible, try that out..

I think you may have misunderstood...sorry that's my fault I may have confused people. I have only just got this new pc started about 20 minutes ago. I tried to download a poker software but it wouldn't allow me to install it because it said i had to open it with an application. this i do not understand :scratch:

Ubuntu doesn't use RPMs. It uses the apt-get system.

We do need to know the suffix on the files you download; that is the only way to tell what the problem is and what OP needs to do to get things working.

What is the name of the poker software file, or alternatively, provide a link so we can go look at it.

Hi lora a link to where you are getting the poker game from will help
it could be the ubuntu software installer or if the file is a .tar.gz it may be a suorce code archive .

Typically your downloaded files aren't opened right away, but instead you are presented with an "Open with" -dialog if the browser/system does not recognize the file type (and so does not know which application should be used). If you do not have something like Wine installed and you are trying to download software that is made for Windows, the file appears to be just a data file of some sort for your Linux operating system, and therefore it asks you what to do with the file. Even after Wine (or similar) is installed, it is possible that your browser does not know (at least the first time) if it should be used to open for example .exe files, but at least it should be available in the "open with" -list.

If you download and select to save the file, then locate it (in desktop, your home directory or some other place) and double-click on it, Ubuntu should either launch it with an appropriate application or if you don't have one installed, prompt you for one. In the latter case you usually need to install the program first that you open the file with.

Programs for one operating system don't generally work in other operating systems unless they are specifically made to work (for example built for several operating systems and/or architectures) or you use an emulator of some sort to run them.

I don't think you're understanding the answers here. The program you are trying to download is most likely a Windows application. Windows applications don't install or run in Linux as it's a completely different operating system.

Wine is an application that allows you to run some Windows applications in Linux. Some will run, some won't. You can try installing Wine and using it to run that program's installer and subsequently run that program. It may or may not work.

Linux is designed to run Linux applications. Windows is designed to run Windows applications.

It sounds like the major problem here is how to install software on Ubuntu.

Installing software is often one of the biggest cultural changes that migrating Windows users have to face; then again, installing mature software on Linux is usually simpler than it is on Windows.

On Windows using Internet Explorer, you would go to a website, download the software (typically a *.msi or setup.exe file) and it would automatically install it for you.

On Ubuntu Linux, the typical way of installing software is to go to the Applications menu, select "Add/Remove..." and then search for the program or type of program that you want to add. Ticked programs are installed, unticked ones aren't.

If you want more control than that, go to the System menu, Administration, Synaptic Package Manager, which will let you install individual packages rather than just individual programs (a package may be a program, a supporting library, documentation or just about any option that you might want to install).

It's also possible to install programs from websites; however, you may need to do some work — such as compiling the program. Occasionally you will see programs for Debian or Ubuntu that you can just install, these are usually .deb files and if you download one of these then you will be prompted to open it with Synaptic, which is the program that installs software packages for you; just open it up and it will handle the rest. Note, however, that you still need to download the correct version; a PPC program will not install on a x86_64 machine, for example. (But, as a special case, an i386 program will usually install on an x86_64 machine, unlike on Windows).

Hope that helps,

—Robert J Lee

Installing OpenOffice 3 on Ubuntu
 

Thanks rjlee for precisely the information I needed!

So, as I understand it, "Add/Remove..." in Ubuntu looks on the internet at what is available to download, and when you choose to install something, you tick the check box and it downloads and installs it.

But this application is a bit limited, so you can also use "Synaptic Package Manager" in System-Administration to specify more closely what you want.

So, I would like to upgrade from OpenOffice 2.4 to OpenOffice 3. Only, when I run "Synaptic Package Manager" (and "reload" the download package information) there are only references to OpenOffice 2.4. I know that version 3 is available (in fact, I have manually downloaded it and it is sitting on the Ubuntu desktop) but I cannot seem to access it. Across in my dual-boot Vista bit of the laptop, I have already installed OO 3 and it is working well.

Can you give another Linux Newbie some more help ... pleeeease!

AndrewC

Installing open office 3:
http://news.softpedia.com/news/How-T...10-96449.shtml

Jay73 has already posted the instructions, so this answer is more along the lines of trying to explain what's happening and why you might be having problems.

Pretty much. Add/Remove and Synaptic both look at the Ubuntu repositories (software sources) to download and install software. The only difference is that Add/Remove lists programs while Synaptic lists packages; a program may be made up of several packages, and Add/Remove will choose typical defaults for you.

Periodically, Ubuntu will download a list of the available versions of software from the repository. When you click the Refresh button in Synaptic, it will do this download immediately, so you can make sure that you're looking at the latest list.

The available software depends on the repositories you have selected. It takes some time for new versions of software to make it into the repositories; after a new version is released, the distro' makers test it to make sure that nothing that they've done to any other part of the program will cause it to break, and then it will be packaged up and included.

In the case of Ubuntu, new versions of programs generally get put into the next version of Ubuntu first, often before the next version of Ubuntu is released. The next version is currently Intrepid (the code name of Ubuntu 9.04).

Personally, I'll be upgrading to Ubuntu 9.04 when it's released in April and expecting to see OpenOffice included then.

Because people often want to use new programs without upgrading their entire distribution, there is a backports repository containing new versions of some programs included with later releases; these should be fairly safe to use in the current release. You can choose to use these In System -> Administration -> Software Sources -> Updates tab -> Unsupported Updates (....-backports).

But please note that OpenOffice 3 hasn't made it into backports yet! This will probably take a few weeks, I'd imagine, if it's to be included at all.

Of course, downloading and installing programs will still work. Just make sure you have downloaded the software in DEB archive form, then just double-click on the icon on you desktop to install it.

Depressingly, I just downloaded OpenOffice-3.0 using the “download now” button, and it served me up a .tar.gz file. Now, DEB files are supported natively by Ubuntu, RPMs are a standard format approved by the Linux Standards Base, and can be converted to DEBs using a program called Alien — but .tar.gz files are general-purpose archive files intended for sharing data or program source code, and shouldn't really be used for distributing software, in my opinion. (This is a case of OpenOffice.org shooting themselves in the foot, so to speak). To get a DEB file out of the OpenOffice.org site, you have to click on the “Get more platforms and languages” link just under the Download Now button, and click the link against your language under the “Linux DEB” column.

If you did download the .tar.gz file, and you don't want to download it again, you can still use it. Just open it in an archive manager, uncompress it somewhere under your home directory. It will create a directory with a horrible name, containing a setup scripts that you can run. You will probably need to open a terminal (Application/Accessories/Terminal), cd to the directory that it's extracted to, and then run it, something like this (you should check that the name of the directory matches, I've assumed that you extracted it into your home directory, which will be in the general form of /home/username):

Hope that helps,

—Robert J Lee

Brilliant! I now have OpenOffice3 installed. And I'm starting to understand a bit about how things work in Linux and the opensource world.

Many thanks to both jay73 and rjlee for your support.

The learning curve in Linux is pretty steep after using Windows for years, but the help I have had in this forum has been absolutely fantastic! I wonder why I didn't go in this direction years ago.

Keep up the good work!

Thanks again,

Andrew C