Andrew Scotchmer wrote:
> Firstly thanks to all for your help and does anyone know of any good
> books on linux and the KDE. The ones I've got don't seem to cover
> much and theres no user group in my area.
> Secondly I can't seem to download anything (icq) from the net, or
> rather I can but I keep getting asked what I want to open it with.
> I type in <home> (just a guess) and it downloads to:
> home/andrew/kde/share/kfm/tmp/..whatever......
> but then what.
> I don't want to sound like a windoze freak but isn't there any
> install wizards for linux? As I am totally new to all of this, all these
> .rpm and .tar.gz files, not to mention the home/andrew/kde....etc,etc,
> are doing my head in (hence the need for a good book).
> I am running Mandrake 6.1
> Andrew
Hey, I 've been there! I was just where you are about 3 weeks ago, but hang in
there! It all starts to make sense pretty quickly. I've had trouble finding a
"one book gives the whole picture" solution, but the latest one I've looked at
does a really good job: Linux: Installation, Configuration, Use, 2nd Ed. by
Michael Kofler, Addison-Wesley publisher.
Regarding install wizards, those .rpm files are pretty much exactly that! Use
kpackage, which will install, update and uninstall all the .rpm packages for
you. Open kpackage, have it search for .rpm packages (in the options menu, you
can define which directories to search for packages). It will give you a list of
all the packages (you can view all the installed ones, all the not-installed
ones, or both from the options menu). Find the one you want to install,
highlight it, and hit install. Coming from Windoze, you'll be amazed at how fast
they install (I sure was!).
The .tar and .tar.gz files are ones you have to compile yourself (manually
install). It's a little more of a pain. I'm not real good at these, but I'll
see if my memory serves me right. The others will correct me if I miss it!
If you have a .tar.gz, it is zipped, and you have to unzip it. I tend to use
the graphical kfm (file manager) to browse the directory. By right clicking on
the file, I get the "archiver" option. I choose it, which opens the ark program
and I select extract, which unzips the file. (I think you can use the console
and enter the command gunzip foo (foo represents the file name). In either
case, you end up with a .tar file (which itself is a kind of compressed bundle
of files).
Use the console and cd into the directory where your .tar file is. Then enter
tar -xvf foo
This will unpack your .tar file into many files and even directories. Now you
are ready to install. I think the commands are as follows:
First, do ./configure from the directory which was just created by
unpacking .tar
Then, do make
Finally... make install
Then your program should be installed.
As you can see, I'm only a step or two ahead of you. Hope this makes some
sense!
Lance
