SUSE 11.3 how do I get to run programs I have just installed?
 

Hi,

I am new to Linux. I have installed new programs with Yast, such as ftp://download.fedora.redhat.com/pub....fc14.i686.rpm. It all installs fine (no error messages) - But how do I get to run it? I figure I need to make a shortcut on my desktop, so that I can call up the new application, but I do not know how to do that.

Could anyone take a few minutes to explain this to me?

Thank you in advance.

At a shell prompt try to run it:

If the program is not run, it means that is not in your path, so you have to search it(run the command below as root):


Once you find it, add the path of the program to your $PATH environment variable. Edit the file .bashrc in your home directory and add this line:


Regards

Well, you're going to have problems. You're trying to install a program for RedHat Fedora (and a beta version at that), onto openSUSE. That's kind of like trying to install a program written for Windows 95 on Windows 7....kind of the same, but different enough to cause problems.

Best thing to do is to find the version for openSUSE, and install it. You'll then get the correct icons/shortcuts.

I don't understand how you installed a Fedora RPM using Yast in OpenSuse. I'm not surprised if it doesn't run at all. Does the OpenSuse repo have a build of the same program? Try searching for Suse repos that have it built for Suse. If not, find the source code and build it yourself on your system.


TBOne beat me to it...

To expand a bit on advice given by udaman:

If you can't find an rpm for OpenSuse for the application you want to install, you can compile the application from source code. However, keeping the application up to date will be more difficult be cause your OS won't recognize it as an rpm package.

Or, you can go through the motions of compiling source code, and make an installable rpm from the compile. There is an application named checkinstall in the OpenSuse repository. Install that. Then, when you are compiling a source package, at the last step, you give the command "checkinstall make install". Checkinstall will create an installable rpm package, which will be placed in /usr/src/packages/RPMS.

Install that rpm just as you would any other rpm made for OpenSuse.

Hi Raventwfb;
A good location for searching in openSuSE is http://software.opensuse.org/search. Try there to find the program you're looking for.

As others have expressed, using rpm files from different distros is asking for trouble. They use different libraries and kernels and can overwrite/modify your installed programs. Think of it like a car, you wouldn't get paarts for a Ford from a Chrysler dealer.

If you can't find it on openSuSE or pre-compiled from the authors, let us know and we'll try to help.

Tom