hello everyone, how do i install tar.bz2 and tar.xz files in linux mint 18.2 cinnamon. been at it since morning with no luck now my back aches and my mood's not good
thank you for your help

Welcome to LQ.
Depends of the application / the library you want to build.

1) Linux Mint has ~40,000 packages in the Package Manager / Synaptic.
.... Please use one of those (if available).
Off-line : Download the Mint packages/dependencies on another computer.
Or buy an Ubuntu 16.04 DVD set : Example → →
https://www.osdisc.com/products/linu...ory-64bit.html

2) Read the documentation for the item you want.
... Building software : There are about 15 different ways to start the build
http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...-4175556531/#4


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1 members found this post helpful.

I want to install offline

Ok you can't just install. tar.bz2 files. They are source code. To build and install them, extract the archive to a folder. Than cd to that folder, run ./configure than run ./make than run ./make install and that should do it. Most source code have Readme files that tell you how to compile.

Alright that said. I would recommend using rpm or deb files to install offline.

Welcome to LQ, balu.

Please tell us which package(s) you are talking about and where you got it/them from (including URL(s)).

Best thing to recommend for any source programs is to read the instructions from the websites; most typically have them, as well as dependencies listed. The steps listed by Mill J are quite common, though, and may work for a good number of programs, but not all. Those are compressed files...first step would be uncompressing them. For the .tar.bz2 file, "tar xvfj <filename>.tar.bz2", and it'll get it done; "tar xpfv" for the .xz file. First step in learning Linux is to make friends with the online help, typically referred to as the "man pages". Type in "man tar", and it'll give you a list of all the options for the program. Same goes for any other Linux program.

From there, look in the files you just 'exploded', and you'll most probably find a file with something very obvious...like "INSTALL" "README", etc. Open that file up, and 99.x% of the time, installation/configuration instructions are contained in it.

But as others have pointed out, installing from package is FAR better, especially for a new user.

1 members found this post helpful.

smplayer-17.7.0.tar.bz
vlc-2.2.6.tar.xz

got them from linuxsoftpedia



thanks guys, I think I just expected it to be quite simple and a bit intuitive, BTW I'm not complaining at all

Thanks. Is there any specific reason that you're not installing the versions of both smplayer and vlc that are in the Mint 18.2 repos?

sudo apt-get install smplayer vlc

Your back won't hurt as much and your mood should improve.

1 members found this post helpful.

It is intuitive; use the packages. No harder than using Windows and running "setup.exe", at the very least, but at least with Linux you have the option of installing from source, modifying it to suit your needs, or helping develop a feature you need/want.

Compiling from source CAN be done, but it is not as easy as typing in a single command, or checking a box in your GUI based software manager. As said, 99.x% of the software comes with a document (and if you look in those compressed files as said, you'll see the instructions) that tells you how to compile things. Bear in mind that software has dependencies. So before you can even compile the source code you have, you'll need the development libraries for any of the OTHER software that such things need, like audio/video codecs, etc. As hydrurga said, you can type in that one command, and your system will install EVERYTHING it needs automatically, and you're done.

1 members found this post helpful.

Theb only time I use a tar.{xz,bz2,gz} file is if the package does not exist in the repos, which is rare. But it has happened, especially in the more distant past. Windows is packaged with practically nothing, not even image burning software.

For Windows you look online for interesting programs, download them, install them, and eventually your system slows to a crawl when it's infested with malware!

With Linux you get everything; all hardware drivers (for the most part), and all software (in the repos), so you don't have to go slumming for packages online. If you need some program:will help you find it.

2 members found this post helpful.

Thanks a lot guys, now everything's fine

That's great to hear. What did you do to resolve the problem?

my system eventually connected to the internet so I just used the synaptics manager.

my initial problem was that my system did not want to connect to the internet which is why I had thought about offline installation.

Ok. For info, you can always obtain the deb file for a package from the repos through another computer and then manually install the deb file rather than have to go back to source.

Of course, you will also have to obtain the deb files for any of the package's dependencies, if they are not already installed, and manually install those beforehand.