ok ok i feel like a newb
 

I had to rma the ram on my main box so i figured it would be a good time to learn how to use linux on my second machine.

I'm trying to install bitch X and im doing a very bad job at it :(, im not a total moron but i'm just not linux/unix savy.

tar:/mnt/hd/Linux/bitch_x/ircii-pana-1.0c19.tar/BitchX

i've gotten that far, but wheres the equivalent of a a .exe in linux

tar:/mnt/hd/Linux/bitch_x/ircii-pana-1.0c19.tar/

within the tar file what should i be looking for? :( thnx for any help you can provide in advance.

****just realized i didnt put this in the newbie section, sry mods*****

haha figured out how to extract a file step 1 complete -_-.

do an ls in the directory

FIRST look if you can find a file that says 'README' or 'INSTALL', and read through it, it'll probably explain all. Otherwise, see if there is a file named 'configure'. If there is, launch it by typing in './configure'. The rest of the installation is (probably) going to be as easy as typing in 'make', then going to root with 'su -', then typing in 'make install'.

You seem to be pretty new at this, remember to use 'man <command>' since you've got to learn the basic commands properly first, and if you don't know what command to use, 'appropos' might give you an idea i.e. 'apropos list' will show you which commands have something to do with listing, then you man that command to get detailed help.

good luck!

hehe i gave up on it, i think trying to install an irc client might have been biting off a bit more than i could chew for using linux for the first time, i puzzled over how to install the nvidia drivers for my video card for a while so i guess i'll get to bitch x in a while, thnx for the help though :) i tried reading install and readme but they weren't that much help and i just realized the command is "./configure" instead of "/configure" so you just helped me overcome my bad eyesight lol thnx :).

ok i got to /mnt/hd/rpm/BitchX and did ./configure but i get what i assume is an error saying:
bash: ./configure: /bin/sh: bad interpreter: Permission Denied

heh hrm?

Would you happen to know what the best irc program for mandrake would be bitchx seems to be giving me problems, or maybe i'm the problem ::frown::

well i fixed that probem by copying the installation files to my home direcotry and running the commands from there. i did ./configure and then gmake as it told me, now it gives me an error that says

gmake[1]: ***[status.o] Error 1
gmake[1]: Leaving directory '/root/Docs/rpm/Bitchx2/BitchX/source
gmake: *** [BitchX] Error 2

does anyone know why it wouldn't work on that other hardrive? I have read /write priviledges so i'm dumbfounded, sry for my ignorance, im new and fighting through this :).

it means it encountered a problem while compiling, but then I suppose you probably figured that one out for yourself as well. it's not really possible to tell by your post alone exactly what went wrong. i think what you might want to do is get hold of the rpm for bitchx and then not worry about compiling anything. you said you run mandrake, right? do a 'urpmi <name_of_the_rpm>' as root. otherwise, do a 'rpm -Uhv <name_of_the_rpm>'. if you've got urpmi sources set up, you won't even need to worry about finding the thing, just go 'urpmi bitchx'. of course, setting up urpmi sources is another story entirely, for info on that do a google on 'easy urpmi'.