installing a tar.gz
 

Ok I unzipped the file and then I used the command ./install but it tells me that "install: cannot stat 'bin/starter': No such file or directory Installation failed. Could not install launcher. What should I do?

1. You didn't "unzip" it, because its not a ZIP file.

2. What program is it?

3. For general directions, search the forums, its asked 5 times a day.

Ok sorry I should have searched first. But doesnt the command gzip -d unzip it (or whatever you call it) and its the game armagetron. (http://armagetron.sourceforge.net/)

for most tar.gz files you should go to the directory you put the tarball in and type

tar -xzvf <filename>

After that, change to the directory by doing : cd <filename> and ls the contents and there should be a README or INSTALL that tell you exactly how to install the package.

the basic way to install a tar.gz after doing the tar -xzvf <filename> and then changing to that filename's directory is this way:

./configure
make
make install

For the last step you will most likely need to be logged in with root priveleges. Of course not every tar.gz works this way, but a lot of them do.

Hope this helps in the future.

ok I tried to use tar -xzvf and it tells me
gzip: stdin: unexpected end of file
tar: Child returned status 2
tar: Error exit delayed from previouse errors

ok im confused about the
./configure
make
make install

ok so the filename is armagetron-0.2.4 (thats the folder after I tar -xzvf command) and its in /root/ so could you tell me me exactly what I would type after tar -xzvf ??

Search the forum.

There is a stickied thread that takes you step by step.

Sometimes these problems come with being root. Login as user und do only the last step (make install) as root (su make install). Sometimes that's all there is to these hangups. Good luck :).