New Linux User Seeks Programs That Work
 

Hopefully someone here will be able to help, I am very new to Linux and am really just starting out learning the absolute basics.

I just installed Suse 9.1 on dual boot will windows, all seems to be working fine,
so I thought then, I should try to install some more programs,
and here I am having some pretty major problems.

I downloaded and installed realplayer 10 as an rpm, that worked fine, did it through yast, which all seemed pretty easy.

Then I downloaded realproducer and now I am CONFUSED, it is in a .sh file, and Im not sure what to do with it :(

I have also downloaded -

antivir -
I seemed to get this to install through konsole, which I found very confusing, this reminds me of when I used to have my old 486 and used to have type dos commands to boot into windows 3.1
It seems to have installed, but I cant find it!!!

bitdefender -
I installed through rpm, but I cant find that either!!!!

acrobat-
Attepmted to install through konsole again, it just listed pages of user agreement and then i couldnt get any further

Im about to download firefox so hopefully I`ll have more luck, because 1 out of 4 is really pretty bad, I have shiney new realplayer but cant get any of thers working, and all that download time on a terrible 56k connection :(

I am really looking at moving from windows to linux, but at this rate theyll be another iceage by the time i get all the programmes working I need,
can anyone help??? Please??????????


Thanks!!!!!!!!

Oh and PS - does anyone know of a good zx spectrum emulator that would work on suse, I miss the old days of playing manic miner till 6am.......did ANYONE ever complete that?????????????

First, use google to find and download a copy of Newbie's Linux Manual, which contains discriptions and examples of the most commonly used commands, and some slightly more advanced topics.
Second, anytime you install/remove software, make it a habit to run updatedb. You need root privileges, so open a terminal and enter the command su. When prompted, give the root password. Then enter the command updatedb. It'll take a minute or two to run to completion. It updates the locate database (locatedb). When, when you want to find something, as user just open a terminal and enter the command locate <filename>. Example: you want to know where antivir is, so the command is 'locate antivir', and the return result will be the path to any file with antivir in the name.
Another option, if you know the name of the executable file, you could do 'which antivir', and get the path to the antivir executable.

Not to be discourgaing .. but for a newcomer to theis party with 56k connection is like coming to the space age battle with a b-b gun.
first you surely need "better" networking, liinux is in such good flux that in you are on a slow link most of the universe would have gone around
a few times by the time you finish downloading "some stuff" and that some stuff will disappear into something you can't find :-)) and can't use !!

for practical side .. most commands are in /bin, /usr/bin .. or ethereabouts .. there are some system admin commands in /sbin
startsup stuff is /etc

check your PATH variable.

Acrobat install has a habit of hiding itself . variuos directories but typically you can specify it ..
if you can't find it .. try
"find . -name acroread -exec print {} \;
in the root direcotry .. it might find it . It might be hiding in /opt/adobe .... or /var/adobe/.. or even /usr/adobe (least likely)

im having the same trouble finding apps that were "installed". suse 9.1, too.
when i updatedb from either user/superuser consoles, apparently regardless of which folder i do it from, i get bash: updatedb: command not found. same thing with locate (in my case) guinstaller.
i dont really understand how this works, when i installed opera, it was there in the start menu the next reboot.