Installing Programs in Linux

[Churnd]

I just got my first full version of Linux up and running yesterday. I'm running Mandrake 10.1 and so far, all my hardware is working which is a huge plus, I guess. Now I'm trying to figure out how to install programs.

I downloaded the setup file for FireFox, which was in tar.gz format. I wasn't exactly sure how to deal with this format, but somehow I got it unzipped into a sub-directory of Home. There's a shell in that folder that I can double click to launch FireFox that will work every time. But if I try to create a copy of that shell outside the folder, it won't work.

I've searched google and can't find a straightforward answer on how I need to install these files. I saw in the configuration panel that there's an RPM installer (which I used to update everything) as well as a program installer, which I toyed around with for a few mins but didn't really get anywhere.

So how do I need to do this? What's the best way to deal with certain installation files such as RPM and TAR.GZ?

 

[KB]

RPM files are installed using rpm -i <path to rpmfile>
There are tools like APT and Yum that make installing dependencies for rpm packages easier. I am not sure what Mandrake uses.
TAR.GZ is a tarball and usually contains source code for compiling. It is uzipped using the tar command.

Your firefox issue was created because you need to install it first:. Use these commands to install it.
tar -xzvf firefox-1.0.installer.tar.gz
cd firefox-installer
./firefox-installer

For more firefox questions consult the faq http://www.mozilla.org/support/firefox/faq

 

[Churnd]

This did the same thing my previous attempts did. What I want to do is create a way to launch FireFox from the desktop or from the start menu by clicking star/internet/web browsers/firefox(which isn't there yet). I'm running KDE 3.2 if it matters.

 

[Nothinman]

Find a package for your distribution, you'll save yourself a lot of headaches.

 

[Churnd]

Originally posted by: Nothinman
Find a package for your distribution, you'll save yourself a lot of headaches.

Know of a good site to find these packages from?

 

[n0cmonkey]

Originally posted by: Churnd

Originally posted by: Nothinman
Find a package for your distribution, you'll save yourself a lot of headaches.

Know of a good site to find these packages from?

What distro?

 

[Churnd]

Originally posted by: n0cmonkey

Originally posted by: Churnd

Originally posted by: Nothinman
Find a package for your distribution, you'll save yourself a lot of headaches.

Know of a good site to find these packages from?

What distro?

Mandrake 10.1

 

[n0cmonkey]

Originally posted by: Churnd

Originally posted by: n0cmonkey

Originally posted by: Churnd

Originally posted by: Nothinman
Find a package for your distribution, you'll save yourself a lot of headaches.

Know of a good site to find these packages from?

What distro?

Mandrake 10.1

rpmfind.net

 

[Churnd]

Is it ok if the RPM is listed for RedHat? I'm assuming it is b/c RPM's are RPM's, right?

 

[Nothinman]

No, I wouldn't trust an RPM for another system. Ideally it should work fine, but there are too many differences between the distros.

I can't imagine that Mandrake doesn't ship Firefox, have you poked around their software installation tools?

 

[Churnd]

I assumed because it didn't show up on the installation CD's when I installed it, that it just wasn't there. I'll do some more looking around and see what I can come up with.

 

[Churnd]

Well I searched the packages and came up empty. Any other options?

 

[Nothinman]

Mandrake used urpmi as an apt-like tool last I heard, have you looked at it?

 

[hopejr]

I thought there was a Software/Package installer on Mandrake. I had 10.0 and it had that, but it didn't have firefox, but back then it was only something like version 0.8.

 

[Nothinman]

If Firefox isn't included I would say dump Mandrake, well I would say that anyway but that's beside the point.

 

[kamper]

If it wasn't included in the default set of packages then you'd usually find a good online repository and point your package manager to it. So instead of searching the cds for packages it looks at a similar system online. Then everything gets updated too.

 

[silverpig]

Try this

 

[Churnd]

Originally posted by: silverpig
Try this

Thanks! I'll try it as soon as I get home.

 

[Doomer]

This thread is a prime example why I've dumped Linux several times.

THIS QUESTION SHOULD NOT HAVE TO BE ASKED !!!!!!!!!

EOT

 

[Nothinman]

THIS QUESTION SHOULD NOT HAVE TO BE ASKED !!!!!!!!!

Sure, because you're just supposed to know everything right off the bat...

 

[Churnd]

Originally posted by: silverpig
Try this

Worked like a charm. Thanks again.

Oh yeah... if Linux were as easy as Windows, it wouldn't be any fun.

 

[n0cmonkey]

Originally posted by: Churnd

Originally posted by: silverpig
Try this

Worked like a charm. Thanks again.

Oh yeah... if Linux were as easy as Windows, it wouldn't be any fun.

It is as easy as Windows. Give it time. I had issues using Windows for a while after using a unix-like system for a while.

 

[Churnd]

Originally posted by: n0cmonkey

Originally posted by: Churnd

Originally posted by: silverpig
Try this

Worked like a charm. Thanks again.

Oh yeah... if Linux were as easy as Windows, it wouldn't be any fun.

It is as easy as Windows. Give it time. I had issues using Windows for a while after using a unix-like system for a while.

Oh I will. I can feel the addiction creeping up on me. My next project is gonna be to learn how to configure LILO to where I can boot to a SuSE installation also.

 

[Nothinman]

It is as easy as Windows. Give it time. I had issues using Windows for a while after using a unix-like system for a while.

Actually it's easier, I get frustrated every time I have to do something on Windows now.

 

[Anubis08]

You could jsut get in KDE and right click>Create Shortcut>name it>go to directory where firefox is and set it to go to the execution you hit to get it running.