I am a newbie that is used to working with windows. I installed Damn Small Linux 4.1. (DSL) on a hard drive so I could play with it and see how it worked. I wanted to be able to run messengers on that computer so I decided the solution was to install Pidgin(formerly Gaim). I selected Source as the type to download and it went thru the download. I expected to see an icon on my desktop but there was none. Not to be undone, I went to the yahoo unix site and downloaded yahoo messenger for debian which I was told was ok for DSL. It downloaded (ok I tried it 4 times) and there was still no icon on my desktop. I opened a root window to give the command to install the program like the Yahoo site said to do, but I got the message that 'command not found'. I guess the 4 downloads of yahoo and the download of pidgin are hiding in my computer somewhere having a party. I obviously don't know the protocol for installing a program on DSL. Can someone explain the steps for me? ... and explaining as though you were talking to a 4 year old would be helpful. When I visit help websites, they assume I know things that I don't. Thanks so much.

Lorrie

You have to enable dpkg on dsl in order to install .deb files. Unless there is a specifc reason for you to use DSL, I would suggest using a more user-friendly distro like Ubuntu or PCLinuxOS

I realize that other linux versions like Ubuntu are more user friendly but I am limited by the size of my old hard drives and prefer DSL because it requires little space. I have tried to enable the dpkg but I don't think I'm going about it right. Is there any way you can teach me how? Thanks.

Lorrie

it should be in the FAQ that launches on start up, by default in DSL