New and need help in install software
 

hi all ,,,,

am new in linux and iam good in installing it and use some commands and i know that there are alot of packages of s/w like RPM and Debian and also first how i can get there right package second how can i know my arck. like if it i686 or some thing like that third the right way to install any software
regards

First of all, which distribution are you using? That will greatly affect how you install packages.

Secondly, your achitecture depends on what type of machine you have. Usually you can do a uname -a to see what kind of kernel was installed (should end in 386, 486, 586, 686, smp, ppc, etc). In general terms, most Pentium computers (AMD also) are considered x86 machines. The really really old ones might be a 386. My old Celeron 400MHz is a 586. Anything newer is probably a 686. SMP means you have more than one processor or a processor that can hyperthread (which mimics multiple processors). PPC (PowerPC) is generally a Macintosh. There are some other minor types of architecture, but those are the general classes.

Third, as for the right way to install ANY software, I'd say generally first try to install it with your package manager, then try to compile it from source.

aha that is great
but i use mandrake 9.1 and i wanna get update for it where can i find that update

What kind of updates? If you want to update the entire distro, I think you need to download a CD of the newest version, Mandriva 10.1 (I think). I think 9.1 is around 3 years old, so you might not be able to get security updates...

I'm not that familiar with Mandrake, but I googled and found this guide to 9.1 that might be helpful to you.

really thanx for all