I have read and read and tried and tried.
could someone give me complete step by step instructions from where to save the download to the unpacking commands compiling and installing of

gimp-print-5.0.0-beta1.tar.bz2

i have tried bzip2 -d gimp-print-5.0.0-beta1.tar.bz2

it says there is no file or directory

tar xvjf <packagename>


Btw, the title of your post is not a very wise choice,
people may think you're talking about chemical warfare :)

How to unpack a bz2 file would have been better.


Cheers,
Tink

This is what i get


gzip: stdin: not in gzip format
tar: Child returned status 1
tar: Error exit delayed from previous errors
linux:/tmp #

and if i use thiscommand i get this


linux:/tmp # bzip2 -d gimp-print-5.0.0-beta1.tar.bz2
bzip2: Can't open input file gimp-print-5.0.0-beta1.tar.bz2: No such file or directory.
linux:/tmp #

That "not in gzip format" is what you get when you use z instead of j with the tar command... maybe you mistyped it? Here's the steps:

1. Download to /usr/local/src (the normal place for putting the source code of programs, although it doesn't really matter)
2. tar jxvf gimp-print-5.0.0-beta1.tar.bz2 (j tells it to extract a bz2 file, x tells it to extract the tar file, v means "verbose" and will write out what is being unpacked to the screen, and f means the filename is coming up next)
3. cd gimp-print-5.0.0-beta1
4. Read any README or INSTALL files, as they will give you more information about how to install. If there aren't any special install instructions, it's usually:
5. ./configure
6. make
7. su (to switch to root, all the above commands should be typed as a user)
8. make install

Try bunzip2 gimp-print-5.0.0-beta1.tar.bz2

This will produce a gimp-print-5.0.0-beta1.tar file.

Then use: tar xvf gimp-print-5.0.0-beta1.tar
to unpack the tarball.

---

In the future, if you come across a file you don't know about, try using the file command.
file filename.extension

This command will dig into a file looking for tell-tale markers and will tell you what type of file it is.

---

When using the tar command, remember that the f option needs to be listed last (before the file name).

This is what i get now

klfreese@linux:~> tar jxvf gimp-print-5.0.0-beta1.tar.bz2
tar: gimp-print-5.0.0-beta1.tar.bz2: Cannot open: No such file or directory
tar: Error is not recoverable: exiting now
tar: Child returned status 2
tar: Error exit delayed from previous errors

You're not in the same directory as the file. You're now in your home directory. When you tried farther up the thread you were in /tmp

and again


klfreese@linux:~> bunzip2 gimp-print-5.0.0-beta1.tar.bz2
bunzip2: Can't open input file gimp-print-5.0.0-beta1.tar.bz2: No such file or directory.
klfreese@linux:~>

I downloaded the file and it uncompressed.
tar -jxvf gimp-print-5.0.0-beta1.tar.bz2

If you decompressed the file usin bzip2 or bunzip then the bz2 file is uncompressed to a tar and now you do not need the j option with tar.

Check your current working directory to see if you still have a bz2 file.

1) Try typing the absolute path of the file:
2) Maybe the download is corrupt ? Try downloading a copy from another source

--Ian

And your still in the wrong directory.

If it is in the /tmp directory.

bunzip2 /tmp/gimp-print-5.0.0-beta1.tar.bz2

you'll probably have to be root.

1. CD to the directory where the tarball is located.
2. get a directory listing to verify that the file is in the current directory. Use the -l option so you can check the length and permissions of the file.
3. use autocompletion. Type the command to extract the file, followed by the first few letters of the file and press the tab key. This will finish typing the rest of the filename for you, so there is less chance of typos.
4. use the man pages on the bunzip or tar commands so you can get the options correct.