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I tried googling it to no avail. How do you install apps in Linux? Anyone have a step by step they can give me or maybe a link to a website on this? Thanks.
well you have to tell us what distro your using and what type of package your interested in installing?
There are many different packages, rpm, tgz, deb, tar.gz, tar.bz2, etc, etc......
1) Do you know what linux distro you have? (eg. RedHat, Fedora, SuSE etc.)
2) Which desktop environment (if any) do you have?
3) What do you want to install?
I am using Mandrake 10.1 Offical DVD with the KDE desktop. I downloaded the latest FireFox and it is in my HOME area but I don't know how to install it (I am a newb from the Windows world).
Extract the tarball and run the installer like so:
Open a terminal/console/konsole and type:
tar -xzvf firefox-1.0.4.installer.tar.gz
cd firefox-installer
./firefox-installer
Although you would probably be better off using a RPM.
Can anyone help me from here. I also downloaded the newest Kopete but again I have no idea how to install software. I am trying those websites but my Windows mind is clouding me. Anyone have any step-by-step for blind Windows users?
READ the very first link in my first post. Along with the ones refering to Mandrake/mandriva.
Most Mandrake/Mandriva "newbie" problems can be resolved by going to Easy URPMI and following the directions to set up your sources. Instead of resorting to tarballs and "wild" rpms, just "urpmi NAMEOFPACKAGE" on the command line. Urpmi also has an easy-to-use graphical front-end called RPMdrake which is integrated into the Mandrake Control Center.
Although web sources for urpmi are not added on the installation of Mandriva Linux, they are available at EasyUrpmi or through an option in the Software Sources Manager in versions above 2005LE (10.2).
firefox-installer is both a name of a directory and a name of a program inside that directory. Type:
Code:
cd firefox-installer
to change to the firefox-installer directory. Next, type:
Code:
./firefox-installer
to run the installer.
As for installing most other programs that don't have an installer program like firefox, it depends on the kind of package and your distribution of Linux. I'm not familiar with how Mandrake handles it, but the standard way to install files ending in .tar.bz2 or .tar.gz is the following:
1. Type "tar jxvf filename.tar.bz2" or "tar zxvf filename.tar.gz" (depending on whether it's a .bz2 or a .gz file).
2. Type "cd filename" to change to the directory where everything was extracted to.
3. Read the README and INSTALL files to get details on what is required to install the program and how to install it. This can be done, for example, by typing "pico INSTALL" or "cat INSTALL | more"
4. In the vast majority of cases, the program is then installed by typing:
Originally posted by jrdioko
I'm not familiar with how Mandrake handles it, but the standard way to install files ending in .tar.bz2 or .tar.gz is the following:
1. Type "tar jxvf filename.tar.bz2" or "tar zxvf filename.tar.gz" (depending on whether it's a .bz2 or a .gz file).
Mandrake uses RPM.
For GameGuru just to explain what those commands do:
tar is an archiving program, I guess you can think of it as being like zip in a way. The next four letters are called flags:
x says to extract the files from the archive
v is for verbose, it shows you what it's doing, ie. the files that are being extracted and to where
f is to specify the filename of the archive
and j or z are to specify the type of archive; j being for .tar.bz2 and z being for tar.gz.
The order of the flags doesn't matter, I don't think.
I don't want to start a "distro war," here, but have you thought about using Mepis instead of Mandriva?
Installing apps in a Debian-based distro is extremely easy. You just have to search for the app and click install. Mepis also has an easy graphical way to enable extra repositories (for multimedia codecs, etc.). Synaptic Package Manager can be your friend.
I couldn't figure out the urpmi think in Mandriva...
Well, either way, good luck. But please don't use .tar files to install things until you get really comfortable with Linux.
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