so i've been trying to get different programs installed, but after firefox, nothing has worked. i've tried unpacking tar.gz and tgz files and the executables do nothing. for tar.bz2's i use the command line method #tar jxvf (or xvfj) and then the path and file name. but still same result. how do i fix this?

Usually, tarballs contain source code which must be compiled, linked, and installed. Typically, after one unpacks the tar file, there is a directory containing various types of files, including source files such as C '.c' & '.h' files. Usually, there is a file 'configure', which is an executable that you run to configure the build system for your particular host setup. You then build the application, usually by running 'make', and then install by running (as root, probably) 'make install'. Look for a file named INSTALL or README or some name to that effect. Read it for the details for building and installing for each package.

In summary:

1. tar -zxvf YourTarball-1.2.3.tar.gz
2. cd YourTarball-1.2.3
3. ./configure
4. make
5. su -c 'make install'

These steps are very common. A few packages differ, and that's why you should always read the readme's for each package.

--- rod.

so you unpack it, then cd to the tarball you just unpacked? or is it supposed to unpack to a directory with the same name

actually, this didn't work (trying to install AIM for linux). when i tried to ./configure it said no such directory.

when i got firefox, i didn't have to do anything like this, i just unpacked it and it worked. but now when i click on the exe's from the directories i unpack, it does nothing. i try to run them from the command line and it still doesn't work.

Firefox seems to be installed as pre-compiled binaries. No building required; just install the binaries.

Yes. Normally the tarball unpacks to a directory by the same name as the base name of the tar file. I like to check that this is really the case, before I unpack the tar file:
There are no hard and fast rules for any of this, although the conventions are widely adhered to. Like I said before, check the 'README's after unpacking.

--- rod.

The procedure I usually go through on Slackware is as follows:
gunzip tarball.tar.gz
tar -xf tarball.tar
cd tarball
./configure
et cetera

there are no readme's in the packages themselves. but the websites they came from usually have tutorials, but when i follow them, it still doesn't work

Okay, I sense that there is a basic principle that you are missing. Can you describe, in detail, what you are doing, and what the results are? Please be explicit and detailed. Cut and paste from your shell session where necessary. Don't leave out anything, and start right from the beginning. You definitely need to be more concise than 'still doesn't work'.

--- rod.

so i'm trying to install: (the generic version) http://www.firstclass.com/ClientDown...uxDownloadPage

the instructions say to do this

$su
Password: <password>
#cd/
#tar xvfj<path to>/fcc-8.101-1-Linux.i686.tar.bz2

i do this, it unzips, i go into the directory with a graphical file manager and click on the executable, and nothing happens.

The package you refer to wants to make a complete tree of files in the /opt subdirectory, as root. Since I don't know anything about the source, and can't be completely certain of it's behavior, I didn't do the install, myself. I did unpack the tarball into a (non-root) directory, and looked at the binary executable, with 'strings'. What I did see was a lot of strings that made me think the application was made to be started and run from the commandline. Have you tried that? What exactly do you expect to see? Is it a tool intended to be run only as root (warning bells sound off, for me)? It seems to install as a root-owned package.

--- rod.

i tried running it from command line and it said some library file was missing. but it's supposed to bring up a login field (it's an email client)

if anyone knows how to install aim or ayttm for linux that'd help as well. i followed their instructions and i got the same result.

So, now we're getting somewhere. What library is it wanting? Once we know that, it may be as simple as installing said library. Often, however, in these cases, there are several libraries missing, and sometimes cascading dependency failures. Lets hope not.

BTW, what is the nature of Puppy Linux? Perhaps that is not an optimal distribution for your purpose. May I suggest gaim, which I hear (I'm an IM virgin) is the IM tool of choice. I think it has a higher probability of installing on most any linux, and you don't have to worry about installing some black box binary application that no one can verify is free of malware (AOL).

--- rod.

so when i do this:

sh-3.00# /root/opt/firstclass/fcc

i get this:

/root/opt/firstclass/fcc: error while loading shared libraries: libqt-mt.so.3: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory

so do i need to find and download that library to make it work? where can i get it from?

when i google for it, i keep getting all these "RPM resources" sites. but not a download of that library?

Libqt is a library upon which KDE is based. Do you have KDE installed on your system? If no, then you will need to find and install the Qt library(s). If your distribution uses yum (as root just try 'yum'), then that will greatly simplify things for you.

as root:
Alternatively, perhaps your distribution uses an alternative package manager; if you know it does, then use that. You might be able to download an rpm archive, and install it from that:
As a last alternative, you can install it from a source tarball.
Sorry I can't be more precise, but since your distro is a bit obscure, I don't know too much about it.

I do have a feeling that you are going to descend into dependency hell, here. If libqt is not installed, there is a pretty good chance that other required libraries will also be absent. This, you will find out after you install libqt and try again to run your application.

One thing does come to my attention, though. You say you try to run it as:
From the instructions you wrote, and what I saw in the extracted tarball, I think the package should have been installed in the filesystem root (as opposed to the /root subdirectory). It is possible that there are hardcoded paths in the code which will be broken if the software is not installed in the expected location. I think you missed the step: , before untarring the package. I don't beleive this will have had any impact on the missing/unfound Qt library, however. It is somewhat conventional to have a /opt directory tree, and quite unconventional for packages to install themselves in /root.

--- rod.

http://rpmfind.net/linux/rpm2html/se...&system=&arch=

so which rpm do i download? the yum command wasn't found but rpm was.

i noticed when i entered the command rpm, that it had an option to install packages. the first class client does have an rpm but it's for Suse or Mandrake. can i still install that? it would make life a lot easier if i can just hit install.