two questions. I am currently running RH 7.3.

1. how do I install tar, gz, and rpm programs I have downloaded?

2. I am interested in triple booting by installing SuSE 9.1, but have read what seem to be numerous problems getting gcc to load and run. What is gcc and as a newbie is this something I need?

Thanks.

Kevin

To install a rpm, just rpm -ivh packagename.rpm
To compile source by using the tar.gz or tar.bz2, you have to tar xfz or tar xfj respectively, then cd into the directory created and follow the instruction usually found in either README or INSTALL.

Usually they come out to be

./configure && make && make install


As far as triple booting with SUSE, the gcc they are talking about is a c compiler (GNU C Compiler). The issue, though I have not heard it is about gcc 2.95 vs gcc 3.3whatever. Its geek speak, and it varies by whom you talk to as for there opinion. Best idea is to just try it out yourself and decide. The "free as in freedom" means the ability to choose. Its what we're all about. . .


Druisgod

One problem is that SuSE does not include gcc with the personal edition by default, so you need to install it from RPM before you can compile your own programs (the ./configure, make, make install described above). Some people have trouble getting gcc to install from RPM, but with a little effort it's doable. You'll also need other development packages like the glibc header files (glibc-devel) and the like.

I am a linux newbie too. what does tar xfz and tar xfj stand for and do. Running Fedora Core 2..... If there is an easier way to do this, let me in on it...

can i use up2date to keep downloaded packages current?

Here are what the options to tar mean:

x = eXtract, i.e. inflate the tarball
z = unZip, to, uncompress gzipped (gz) files before extracting
j = inflate bzip2 (bz2) compressed files before extracting
f = Filename, i.e. the name of the tar file to work on.

You can probably do this through a GUI, but it's nice to know how to do it on the command line. Another useful option is v for verbose, which has tar tell you what files it is extracting from the tarball.

BTMiller is right. For more info do a " man tar" at the command line.

Druisgod

another advantage of using command line in place of gui's
it is fast
and
u can know the commands which are very usefull while in resue mode