How to install Yahoo Messenger in Linspire
 

Hallo Linux nation!!!

I’ve installed Linspire distro about 2 weeks ago, and this is my first interaction with Linux in general. I am 100% beginner, and all I know right now is how to turn computer on and shut it down :-)
Anyways, from what I see now, I think the Linux is very advanced and promising OS.
I am experienced Windows user and I use computer in professional music field; Hard Disk recording, Audio and MIDI editing.
Before I start looking for professional music apps, I would like to know how to install a program in general.
For this matter, I have chosen the latest Yahoo Messenger (for Linux)
Sorry I couldn’t post a direct link, because I just signed in (don’t have more than 5 posts), but you can find in on Yahoo web site.

So my question is: How to install Yahoo Messenger, in Linspire distro?

There are some instructions on the right side of the web page, but I don’t understand what they mean. There are like 3 different options for download and installation.
The only thing I DO understand is that I have to be logged in as root :-).
It also says: “Log in as root and type: dpkg -i ymessenger_1.0.4_1_i386.deb to install the application.”
OK, so “where” do I type in the information, and how do I install it and execute?

I would appreciate if someone could explain STEP BY STEP, how to install this particular program, and also please excuse my poor Linux experience.
Maybe Linspire is a bad choice of distro???????

Thank you in advance.


D.O.
Future Linux musician


P.S.
As I understood, version 7.0 (with voice) is for Windows only. Is there a Windows shell program (Virtual Windows) where I can install version 7.0, if yes where can I download it and how to install (I’m guessing that the steps are familiar with installing Messenger for Linux).

You should be able to load a terminal window which should be accesible on the menu where your programs are. This will let you configure and install the program...

Welcome to the linux community! I hope you enjoy your stay. I have heard that linspire is a very good distro for newbies, so you probably made a good choice.

> It also says: “Log in as root and type: dpkg -i ymessenger_1.0.4_1_i386.deb to install the > > application.”

You need to open a terminal to do this. Look for something with a name like xterm, eterm, or aterm on linspires equivalent of the MS start menu. Once you get a terminal, just go to the directory where you saved yahoo using cd (change directory) and type the dpkg line.

For example, if you saved it in /home/johndoe/programs:

That's it!

If you have the CNR service offered by linspire, that should make it even easier to find and install programs (although they may not have yahoo messenger).

Install Yahoo
 

I have recently installed Linspire, thinking it would be a great transitional phase from my windows xp to linux. so far i like it, but I'm having trouble installing things too. i went to the terminal and got this error.

dpkg -i ymessenger_1.0.4_1_i386.deb
(Reading database ... 70645 files and directories currently installed.)
Preparing to replace ymessenger 1.0.4_1 (using ymessenger_1.0.4_1_i386.deb) ...
Unpacking replacement ymessenger ...
dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of ymessenger:
ymessenger depends on libgdk-pixbuf2 (>= 0.13.0); however:
Package libgdk-pixbuf2 is not installed.
ymessenger depends on libssl0.9.6; however:
Package libssl0.9.6 is not installed.
dpkg: error processing ymessenger (--install):
dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
Errors were encountered while processing:
ymessenger

what is this libgdk that it says i need
:Pengy:
p.s. i put the install file.deb in the root folder for acts of ease
anyone?:(

Could I run Windows version of this Messenger with "Wine", if yes, then how?

My experience with wine has not been so good. Most things don't seem to work unless it is on the list at winehq.

I am sure that there are some linux native messenger programs that you can use. Even then you still may have dependency issues.

Also I am not sure about how you install things in linspire. I know it is a debian spinoff of sorts, but manually downloading debs and using dpkg seems like a painful way to do things. I wonder if you can use apt? Or just buy the darn package downloader for 20 bucks a year.

At any rate, you also need to install the libraries that it wants (libgdk-pixbuf2 and libssl) before ymessenger will work.

They don't have Yahoo! Messenger, but they do have GAIM, which support Yahoo!:

http://www.linspire.com/lindows_prod...roduct_id=1832

You can read more about GAIM here.

If you don't like CNR, you can try Klikit!
If that doesn't work, there are a lot of Debian-based distros out there that have native support for .deb and dpkg/apt-get (Xandros, Mepis, Ubuntu, Debian).

Officially, Linspire does not support dpkg/apt-get, though some people claim to have worked around this (I haven't been able to consistenly get apt-get to work with Linspire.

Further reading.

Thank you for the comprehensive reply.

I know I can use Linspire's GAIM and hook up w/Yahoo, AOL ... But the main intention for me was to learn how to install a program. Maybe Messenger is not very easy example :-)
Now I am even more curious how to install these "libraries". Where do I get them?

There are some explanations on Yahoo web site, and I don't know what they mean or what their purpose is:

QUOTE:These packages require X Windows, GTK 1.2 or greater, openssl 0.9.6 or greater and gdk-pixbuf 0.8.0 or greater
This client uses an un-GNOMEified version of GtkHTML 0.8, which is under the LGPL. Download the source.
Note: You can use the md5sum utility to verify the correctness of the downloaded file. The checksums are provided with each file. END OF QUOTE

What is this GtkHTML 0.8 thing?

If you want to install from source, you can do that, too.

I think you're trying to make it more complicated than it has to be.

You use CNR for Linspire.
You use Synaptic/apt-get for other Debian-based distributions.

Package management is easy in Linux. You just click a few things and everything is downloaded and installed for you.

don't know much about .debs but the dependency issue is solved for rpms with --nodeps

e.g. rpm -ivh --nodeps rh9.ymessenger-1.0.4-1.i386.rpm if there is such a thing for debian packages, it should work as this particular package contains the dependencies it needs.

Note however that it is bad in general to bypass dependency checks

For voice and WebCam support for yahoo messenger you can try gyach :
1. Download http://www.politicalcrossfire.com/te...nstall.tar.bz2 , and save it to your home directory (important!).

2. Run these commands in the terminal, in sequential order:
Code:

tar -xjf gyach-install.tar.bz2
cd gyach
sudo ./install

gaim-vv is another choice