When I try to run progs that I installed from packages, which were precompiled, it simply doesn't work.
Bash - my command interpreter - gives me the reply that the file doesn't exist! Even though I can see it right in front of me!

I have concluded that it's because I need the package to be compiled in my kernel. Is this so?
Thanks.
RPD

you seem to have a bunch of different ideas about linux that don't really make sense.... not totally sure where your coming from.

to answer your actual question though, does it have to be compiled for your system, not always no. when RPM's are compiled in a server farm or wherever, they take away with them knowledge about where certain library files exist, and what their file names are. so when you drop it into your own install of that distro, the same files are there. many of these files locations and names hardly ever change between linux versions (across other distro's) so this is not a problem at all. sometimes they do change, and the program no longer runs.

there's no logic in "compiled in my kernel" that doesn't really make sense at all....

if you're having specific problems, with specific programs, post us the REAL error messages, and i'm sure we'll be able to help. one thing though, bash is "bash", not "Bash".. maybe that's your problem there? GNU/Linux shells are case senstive.

Not really sure what your asking but if the files is in the directory your in try

./filename

you might want to add what distro your using, what package manager your using, what package your trying to run, etc.

There are many reasons why your shell can't find a program to execute. They mostly have to do with paths. If bash doesn't know the path to a binary, it will not find it.

you can do some troubleshooting in this area:
will tell you the paths that your shell knows. if the path to your program isn't listed there, it will not automatically be found and executed.
should execute that binary. note the './' before the binary name, which tells your shell to look in 'this directory'

The file /home/user_name/.bashrc, /home/user_name/.bash_profile, or /etc/profile, depending upon distro, may be edited to add the required path to binaries that are not in standard places, such as this:
I hope this helps.

jacks4u

From one noob to anothere...

As a beginner, stick to RPMs. Either launch them from the GUI or run RPM -i from a terminal. It forces an app to install correctly. As you learn more you'll have a better idea where to put things and how to run them - then you can move "up" to tarballs.

Also, if you *know* a file is executable and is in your current directory, try ./filename (instead of just typing the filename by itself). If you just created a script file, you need to make it executable with chmod.

Specifically, so long as a binary executable is in ELF format it will run on any linux box. However, often times binaries are dependent on libraries that maybe or maybe not be on your system and may or may not be the correct version on your system. That is why it is usually your best bet to get packages designed for your particular distibution.

Now a verity of things could be wrong with how you are trying to do things here. What package manager did you use? How did you install the package? Is the binary in a directory in your PATH? If not you have to call it by it's absolute path (or by ./filename if you are cd to the directory it is in). Some people like to append ./ to there path so they can always run executables in there current working directory... I don't like to do this in case I'm compiling a new version of a program I already have and I want to make sure I know which one is really running (yes, this is easy to do, but I don't like to confuse myself...:-P).

EDIT: Before somebody gets ultra picky on me here... I suppose it is possible to compile your linux kernel without ELF support... but I don't know of any distro's that provide such a setup by default.

Thanks for all the advice, but you haven't told me much I don't know. I can't use RPMs, 'cause I'm using slackware & I don't have an RPM unpacker!
The problem is not libraries that are missing, nor is it that the file not in my path. bash refuses to see the file, it seems. Even if I type ./dillo it doesn't work. bash says that dillo does not exist. But if I type ls, dillo is listed in the file list. Can anyone explain this?
I'm using Slackware 3.5 - I know it's old, but I'm running a 486!
Dillo is already executable, I checked that. It's not a script, it's an ELF file.

Thanks again,
rpd

As of 2.6, I believe the kernel itself is ELF... and as such, the support must be present... I think

Perhaps there's a permissions issue? if the program is not marked as executable, then bash or other shell doesn't know how to handle it.

The man page for chmod should be informative, but to sum it all up,
sets the owner execute bit. you can also specify the actual bits, by using otal values. 0777 gives the owner, the file's group, and others read, write, and execute permission.

This may not be the case, however, because every time I've tried to do something that I'm not permitted to do, i get a permissions insufficient type error.

I have litt;e else to suggest, but I hope that helps

jacks4u