Installing RPM's.
 

I've never tried to install an "RPM"! I wanted a program called "Transmission" which was recommended here.
I was told about a web site that has RPM versions of software called "Guru's RPM site".

I downloaded it and it's sitting on my desktop. What do I do now to install it into system and where will it show up?

I realize this question may be stupid to a lot of people (told this basically on another site) but if you have never done these things it is "NOT" stupid it's just a lack of knowledge! Furthermore there is nothing on "Novell's" web site that explains things in terms that people who do NOT know can comprehend.
There are several individuals on this web site that have went above and beyond with out being anal retentive about explanations, and I just want you to know I really appreciate it! Sorry to blab on, just tired!

Here's some food for thought. It will make using rpm less troublesome.

First, you say nothing about which distro you propose to install an rpm into. Is it an rpm based distro such as Fedora, Suse, or some other?

Second, did you download a version of rpm for the distro you are using. Rpms are not necessarily compatible from one distro to another.

The exception would be .src.rpm. It's an rpm of the source code, which has to be compiled to make a binary installable rpm. The difference in that case is that the rpm is compiled for your machine.

I agree with your opinion of questions. The *stupid* question is the one left unasked, or the one poorly thought out before asking. If you don't ask, you don't learn. So, ask away. But, provide information so about your computer (if asking a hardware related question) and provide information about your operating system (if asking software related questions).

In the case of your present post, *if* your distro is rpm-based, and *if* you downloaded an rpm for that distro, there are two methods to install.

Click (or possibly double click) on the rpm file, and some helper application may kick in to install it. In Suse, that would be YaST. If you are looking at the file in your file manager, when you click on the rpm, your file manager may pop up a dialogue box asking if you want to install.

The second method is to install from the command line: rpm -i <filename>.rpm, where <filename> is the name of the rpm. You should probably su to root because installing an rpm will probably require writing to directories the normal users doesn't have write priviledge in.

It will install whereever the rpm spec file (which tells rpm what to do with the files in the package) tells it to install. If you downloaded an rpm for your distro, look at other rpms you have installed to see the most likely locations of files. Config files go in /etc, library files in /lib or /usr/lib, executatles (depending on the rpm) could go to /bin, /sbin, /usr/bin, or /usr/sbin, or possibly also in /opt.

I'll keep an eye on this thread in case you have more questions.