Ok, this has probably already been answered, but I couldn't find it, so please enlighten me as to the easiest way to mount new software.

I have tried to follow scrip advice given in Linux Format's magazine, but to no avail.

I'm running the newest of Ubuntu's newest distro, Intrepid Ibex, and have tried all manner of things to get packages to install, such as OOo_3.0.0, etc.

Any help that makes sense of this would be greatly appreciated, as I've conquered other issues with command line, but this eludes me.....

Could you be more specific please? What exactly are you trying to install and how are you trying to install it? The term "mount new software" doesn't make any sense.

I don't know what else you want, as all I want to know is in my question, how do I install software on Ubuntu 8.10, simply without all the gibberish I read concerning how to.

I have tried all manner of installation scripts given in magazines and websites but all fail to install, all come back with an error message.

Can't be more specific than this I'm afraid.

Generally, use the package manager (read this). If you want more help, you're going to need to provide more details (e.g. specific error messages and exactly what you've done), because it's literally impossible to help without that.

I have tried another sites way of extracting, following all the steps as they were written on their site, and this is what came back at me:

smoky@Smolux:~$ cd Documents
smoky@Smolux:~/Documents$ cd Downloads
smoky@Smolux:~/Documents/Downloads$ tar xvf OOo_3.0.0_Linuxintel_install_en-US.tar.gz
tar: OOo_3.0.0_Linuxintel_install_en-US.tar.gz: Cannot open: No such file or directory
tar: Error is not recoverable: exiting now

As you can see, this is the error that came up at me, similar to each of the others I've tried.

I keep my downloaded files in a folder called Downloads which is in Documents folder.

Thanks

I have has some success (although I can't see any programs added to my system, with the following being one:

smoky@Smolux:~/Documents/Downloads$ tar xvf fastdup-0.3.tar.bz2
fastdup-0.3/
fastdup-0.3/src/
fastdup-0.3/src/Makefile
fastdup-0.3/src/compare.cpp
fastdup-0.3/src/scan.cpp
fastdup-0.3/src/fastdup.cpp
fastdup-0.3/src/main.cpp
fastdup-0.3/src/util.cpp
fastdup-0.3/Makefile
fastdup-0.3/LICENSE
fastdup-0.3/README
fastdup-0.3/include/
fastdup-0.3/include/fastdup.h
fastdup-0.3/include/main.h
fastdup-0.3/include/util.h

As you can see, this one is fastup-0.3 which is one I want to play around with, but all it does is make another directory within the one I'm extracting it from. This just does not make sense to me.

Must tell you, I've been using Windows since DOS and have wanted to migrate over to Linux completely, which is going to happen, but only when I can find out how to install software onto my Linux system.

All Windows users are used to is double clicking on the .exe file and it all happens, not in Linux, and that's all that is stopping me from throwing crappy Windows OS away for good.

Hope this is all making a little more sense...I really am at an impasse.

Why aren't you using Ubuntu's package manager to install it? If you want to use the OOo package you've already downloaded, well, you can (but you might as well use the package manager, since that's what it's there for).

If you don't want to use the package manager, firstly can you check if the file is actually in the current directory. ls will give you a list.

In most of cases you don't need to download tar.gz and manually install it. Being a beginner you shouldn't do that either. The easier answer to your question can be found if you bother googling for it. Following is just one guide of how to install open office 3 on latest Ubuntu.

http://news.softpedia.com/news/How-T...10-96449.shtml

If this doesn't help I've done the hard work for you and listed all results here:

http://tinyurl.com/aolzxp

Most of experimental, development, or latest software are hosted at ubuntu experimental repositories which need to be added manually. Once you add relevant repositories you can install the software you want using synaptic as usual.

There's nothing wrong with that. You just need to cd into that directory and, well, read the README. It looks like you'll just need to run "make" (and perhaps "make install"), though. Again, I'd check whether this package is available in Ubuntu's repositories. If it is, you might as well install it from there.

Did think this was a newbies forum, if it is, how am I supposed to know all this yabber speak, as a Windows user I find forums like this really do not support new users very much, gee, would have thought a little kindness would be generated toward those who are trying the champion the uptake of Linux...I really want to, but find it impossible to do that as I can't get a decent answer for what is supposed to such a simple thing to do, according to magazines and website dedicated to Linux.

The first problem here was your misuse of the word "mount". Mounting means to connect a filesystem to the local file tree so that you can access it. You mount a hard disk, floppy disk, usb drive, cd-rom, etc. But you can't "mount" software.

Second, we have to be clear about what you want to do, what you've tried to do, and what happened when you tried it before we can give you advice. Your posts up to now have been rather vague on details. You need to be specific about what you're trying to accomplish, perhaps with an example. "How do I install a program like OpenOffice.org on Ubuntu? I tried doing X, but only got error message Y", followed by the exact commands you used and the errors you got back, is the kind of thing that makes it easier for us to provide you with accurate help.

Finally, howto stuff is not "gibberish". Reading howtos and instruction manuals is exactly what you should be doing. But you do need to understand the terminology and context before you can use it correctly, and it's possible that the things you've read don't apply to your exact situation (there are different ways to install programs in linux, for example, and different distributions use different methods). If you're having trouble understanding something specific that's written in a howto, ask us about what it means. Don't just complain about it.

I hope you'll take this as constructive criticism. I'm not trying to discourage you from asking questions here. I understand that trying to learn new ways to do things can be frustrating at times. But clear communication helps us help you. Better too much info than too little.

Edit: Whoops! Lots of specifics posted between the time I started writing and the time I posted. Now we're getting somewhere.

I gave you a link telling you about Ubuntu's package management system, since that's what distro you're running. Their documentation is usually quite good. If there's something you don't understand, you need to ask explicitly. I (and I assume most people) can't read minds, unfortunately.

Yes, you did give that URL, I followed it, and managed to extract a file using the code they provided, pasted on here for you to see, but my question is, and I'm not sure how to make this more understandable, is how you then get the unziped file to work, as there is nothing in the myriad of if folders that makes sense to a wannabe Ex Windows user.

If I can't get anyone to help me on this issue here, perhaps to get rid of me suggest another site I may be able to get what I want answered so I can get to use programs on Linux I both need and want to fiddle with.

Forget about using the file you downloaded to install OpenOffice.org. Just use the package maanger. Synaptic is a graphical front-end for Ubuntu's package management system and that will be easier for you to use.

Yes, this is a newbies forum, but I hope you'll forgive us if we sometimes forget just how new some people are.

But there's also a certain amount of effort we expect from you as well. While we don't expect you to understand the technical stuff right away, we do need you to be clear and detailed in your communication, and receptive to learning from people who have more experience than you.

In switching from Windows to Linux you aren't just changing OSs, you're entering a completely different computing culture; one that puts self-help near the top of the list. A lot of the advice you get is going to be of the "helping people help themselves" variety, especially on topics of a general nature. If you need a specific answer, then you need to have a specific question. But don't be surprised if the answer you get is something along the lines of "read the f*** manual", because the last thing the *nix culture respects is someone whose too lazy or self-important to attempt basic research before asking.