How to install / do anything within ubuntu 8


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So I am playing around with ubuntu 8.04 RC. Got it working using wubi install from within windows. Most say that went very easy.

But what I don't get is how to install anything if it doesn't come up from within synpatic. Let's say I download xyz.tar.gz

How do I install that?

Any really good sites to go and learn from?

Also it comes with ff3 beta 5 but I find that it is really slow compared to beta 5 on vista. Is there something better to use?

To say the least I am completely lost when it comes to using anything linux. This is really my first time using it and I am a very very noob at it. I am trying ubuntu because most people say its the best to try when you don't know what you are doing.

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Look Here One Page Linux Manual Pdf file

and here: www.brunolinux.com

I hope this helps

This is totally outdated! Some of the command even disappear.

If the software contain a file called configure, it is a source package, the code written by programmer and not the application. To convert the code into application, you have to compile it manually. in order to do that, you need to have some developing tools installed ( sudo apt-get install build-essential ). The, you open a terminal, use cd and ls to browse to the right folder and the wirte the following line:

./configure

make

sudo make install

Note that ./configure may fail if your system does not contain the right dependencies. You will have to install them one oafter the other if you one to isntall the application. If your lucky, most of them will be in synaptic with the suffix -dev.

But this is not a really convenient way to install an application. Try to find a .deb or something like that before. What is the software you want to install?

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That's not a rule, though. Some program don't use that system. Usually a source package will contain a file called INSTALL or README which you should read because it should tell you what to do.

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It sounds really silly but my biggest thing is installing themes right now. I am trying to get some from gnome-look.org nd customize.org but if they don't come as a .tar.gz then I have no clue what to do with them.

I know if its a .tar.gz I can drag it directly into the dialog box and it should install it, but what if its a zip file or a bz2 file? I have tried extracting it directly to the theme folder but unless I do a sudo install I don't have permission. Seems silly to have to do that.

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It sounds really silly but my biggest thing is installing themes right now. I am trying to get some from gnome-look.org nd customize.org but if they don't come as a .tar.gz then I have no clue what to do with them.

I know if its a .tar.gz I can drag it directly into the dialog box and it should install it, but what if its a zip file or a bz2 file? I have tried extracting it directly to the theme folder but unless I do a sudo install I don't have permission. Seems silly to have to do that.

Basically if you get a file that is just a .rar for example, all you need to do is extract that folder and then place that extracted folder into .themes in your home directory (you may have to created this folder yourself). The theme should then show up in under the theme's tab :)

EDIT: Since your .themes folder isn't a big security risk, you could always "sudo chmod 777 /home/<username>/.themes".

That will then allow you to add files to that folder just by dragging and dropping :)

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What I"l like to know is how to install a program with a xx.bin extension. I downloaded a linux basic compiler to see how it worked and now I'm not sure how to install it. Apt-Synaptic doesn't see it and it isn't a .deb file, so I don't know what to do with it. Any help appreciated.

Jojo

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Just curious, but what .bin did you have a question about.

Most .bins will be directly executable (bin stands for binary file). If you got it from a tarball (.tar.gz or .tgz) file, then it will preserve the unix attributes, particularly "execute" in this case. A file from email or direct download from a web page does not have rwx (read, write, execute) attributes, so files gotten this way cannot run without manual intervention on your part. Namely set the attribute for execute.

This can be done with a GUI and right-click and set the properties to allow execution. Or from a commandline to change the mode: chmod a+x filename.bin to change the mode for "all" to "add execute ability" for that filename.

Hope that helps.

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