Genral Questions on Types of Linux Files
 

I need some info on what some of these files do and are.
.Tar or Tarball file
.rpm file
MD5 Checksums

If could help me out it would be a big help.
Thanks

tar= tape archive file. an archive basically.
rpm= Redhat package manager file, usually compressed.
MD5(checksum)= encryption algorithym, generated to check that two files are EXACTLY the same bit for bit.

when installing things I get confused about seeing a Tar file and a rpm file do i need both

tar or tar.* generally contains source files, which are compiled and then installed.
RPM is a pre-compiled installation package.
You could use one or the other, but if you use both you're likely to end up with two separate installations of the same software.

RPms are much easier to install. You just rnu the necessary command and it installs. With the tarball, which is usually a source package. You need to obviously compile it and add your own menu entr'es and maybe run some config scripts. But the rpm does all that for oyu.