[RESOLVED] Install Linux Applications

[agmorgan]

I got a free copy of Linspire when they were doing a promotion recently.
It certainly is the easiest version of Linux I have ever tried.
Only took 10 minutes to install!

My problem is that I am not really sure how to install applications under linux.
In Windows you have the nice installer packages that come with all the dependencies and guide you through default places to install it.

Am I correct that /usr/bin is the equivalent of c:\program files\?

Maybe I haven't looked enough but so far, the applications that I have downloaded have listed lots of dependencies and most have been source code.

Do you not get installation packages in Linux?

I am a bit of a cheapo and don't want to pay th $20 for the Linspire Click N Run service which basically IS thousands of applications setup with installation packages.

[Cander]

If I recall, I read that Linspire is debian based so you could install apt-get and synaptic, but I hear that is some cases it can foobar Linspire. apt-get is basically a tool to search, download, and install applications from an online repository much like Linspires click and run, but its free. Synaptic is a gui frontend for it. Still requires you to know what to search for to find stuff. It also installs any dependencies though which is good.

The most common way is rpm's. These can be a pain though as it wont handle dependencies for you.

There are alot of different ways apps are packaged for Linux which is its major downside right now. Some are just console script files that are run by typing sh filename.ext. Rpm's which require the rpm command line to install, then there are debs, and the commonly found source download where you have to compile it yourself by typing ./configure then make then make install. There is the rare setup package like you are used to in Windows, but it is just not commonly used currently. Linux users like to be stuck up and do things the hard way..
.

[visualAd]

I think by default Linspire does not ship with a compiler. But you have many options options. To ellaborate a little - you can apt-get, like Cander said. The following for example should install the C development environment:

# apt-get --install gcc

You can also download the source code and compile the program yourself. Incidently that requires the C compiler and may require other dependancies and libraries. Provided you have them all it is as easy as this: (n.b: it is wise to check the signatures and md5's on downloads)

# wget http://www.domain.com/path/to/download.tar.gz
# tar xvf download.tar.gz --gunzip
# cd download
# ./configure
# make
# su <-- you may need to do this if you are not the root user
# make install

Whatever you decide to do, a smart person like you shouldn't have to pay for free software

[tr333]

Linspire requires you to pay to access its CNR software repository because of some proprietary software contained in it. If you want a totally free linux distro, then you can't go past Ubuntu. It has the GNOME desktop environment and includes Synaptic for installing applications via APT. It comes with most of the software you need preloaded (OpenOffice, Firefox, GAIM, Bittorrent downloader, Evolution e-mail suite, etc.) and most other things can be installed via APT.

If you prefer KDE, you can get Kubuntu instead.

(disclaimer: i don't like paying for any GNU/Linux distros).

[agmorgan]

For some reason Synaptic didn't want to install.
I installed Klik instead, which appears to be similar to their Click N Run service
The software now becames a one click install. Hurray!

Now that I have Anjuta installed, all I have to do is learn C++

[Cander]

Cool, glad to see you found an alternative. You should still research and learn about the other package types mentioned. You are likely to run into them at some point. Especially rpm's.

[agmorgan]

I didn't think that RPMs worked on Debian based systems?
Doesn't it stand for Redhat Package Manager?

[Cander]

Yeah its called Redhat Package Manager, but it is universal.

[tr333]

I didn't think that RPMs worked on Debian based systems?
Doesn't it stand for Redhat Package Manager?

it used to, when it was only used on RedHat systems.
It now stands for RPM Package Management, as it is not just restricted to RedHat systems. I think it is used on debian through rpm4apt or something similar.