> I have looked around and so far have been unable to find any good=20 > documation explaining how to install a application from a tar.gz file.
What are you ttrying to install? Usually (but now necessarily) tar.gz files are compressed archives of source code. I assume that's what you're trying to install. And tar.gz files can just be like any archive of files - no 'install' really is done, only de-archiving. If you've ever used zip or unzip on DOS or Windows systems, a tar.gz file ss similar. Usually you'll start out by first looking at what directories and files are there (most zip files in DOS are a couple of single files, but in Unix they're typically a number of files and subdirectories). Then you'll extract it somewhere, usually in the current directory. First step is to look at it: $ zcat xtrs-4.5a.tar.gz | tar -tvf - (I just happen to have a handy-dandy tar.gz file here). You do that, you should see something like: [EMAIL PROTECTED] dfox]$ zcat xtrs-4.5a.tar.gz | tar -tvf - drwxr-xr-x mann/staff 0 2001-05-04 23:18:22 xtrs-4.5a/ -r--r--r-- mann/staff 14611 2000-12-15 15:21:10 xtrs-4.5a/trs_memory.c -r--r--r-- mann/staff 4733 2000-05-16 19:37:44 xtrs-4.5a/cmddump.c -r--r--r-- mann/staff 1383 2001-02-16 23:23:46 xtrs-4.5a/error.c -r--r--r-- mann/staff 18401 2001-05-01 17:52:20 xtrs-4.5a/debug.c -r--r--r-- mann/staff 13926 2001-02-17 17:32:18 xtrs-4.5a/trs_io.c -rw-r--r-- mann/staff 424 2000-07-21 21:55:02 xtrs-4.5a/fakerom.hex -r--r--r-- mann/staff 150593 2001-02-16 23:32:20 xtrs-4.5a/trs_chars.c -r--r--r-- mann/staff 808 2000-05-16 19:40:40 xtrs-4.5a/trs_printer.c -r--r--r-- mann/staff 716 2000-05-16 19:37:45 xtrs-4.5a/config.h -r--r--r-- mann/staff 7223 2000-07-21 18:37:02 xtrs-4.5a/z80.h -r--r--r-- mann/staff 5439 2001-05-01 20:29:21 xtrs-4.5a/trs.h -r--r--r-- mann/staff 7048 2000-05-16 19:37:29 xtrs-4.5a/README -r--r--r-- mann/staff 1447 2001-04-27 14:41:39 xtrs-4.5a/README.tpm and so forth. On this particular file, all the files are going to be in the 'xtrs-4.5a' subdirectory. Not all tar.gz files are encased within subdirectories. This is the time then to repeat an adage I used to tell others -- "always -tvf before you -xvf'. In other words, always see what the tar is going to produce before you actually extract it. Otherwise, you may end up with a hodge-podge of files strewn all over your home directory. Now, let's extract: $ zcat xtrs-4.5a.tar.gz | tar -xvf - Now, you'll just see a flurry of filenames on yuor screen -- that is tar telling you what it is extracting. Once this is done, you have a new subdirectory 'xtrs-4.5a' and if you change into that directory, you'll see all the files. Now, what you do with that is up to you, but in this case xtrs-4.5a.tar.gz is a tar source archive of a TRS-80 emulator for X/Linux, and of course to install this puppy we need to compile and install it. Normally, building consists of four steps: ./configure make su root make install Of course, there are going to be variants fo that process; for instance less complicated programs don't need a "configure" step, but you might need to edit some files beforehand. Often there is a README file (just as there was in DOS shareware zips many years ago) or a INSTALL file -- that contains the directions on how to use the package.
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