Danny_Boy_69 Posted October 19, 2006 CID Share Posted October 19, 2006 Ok so basically by the title i have just installed linux Mandriva 2007...... wanted to give linux a try summert different than windows gettin bored with XP but me being didnt think everythin that would change and 1 thing i didnt think of is .exe files... Windows has exe files to easily install anythin but i have just tried getting the latest drives for my video card from nvidia and it came down as .run file so doulble as you do and came up with this window i cant remember but i click on it and it comes up with like a window with what looks like code in there.... I was just wondering how do you actually install apps on linux.... Such as Noob question but hey we gotta start somewhere...... DannyBoy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shug7272 Posted October 19, 2006 CID Share Posted October 19, 2006 No such thing as a noob here friend, everyone was new at everything at one time. Well I say that since noob (geez I hate that word) is usually used negatively. Anyway Im just flapping my gums since I dont know much about linux but I bet some of the other guys will. I will be watching this post I would like to learn the answer too. Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swimmer Posted October 20, 2006 CID Share Posted October 20, 2006 First shug hit it on the head.. there is really no such thing as a noob on this forum.. Just people who are trying to do something for the first time. I was a "noob" about a year and a half ago.. Now I administrate 2 servers and own a laptop all running SuSE.. So now onto the question.. There are different formats for programs that you would install. RPM and Binary/Source.... First RPM.. this is what I would recommend for someone who is just starting if your distribution supports RPM.. I think most do but not 100% sure. This is the .exe of linux. You run a command or use a GUI to install the program and everything works. There are some drawbacks but it does really effect users that are just getting started. The second is Binary / Source... Source is where you actually download the source code then compile it on your local machine to run. This is normally best for applications that can be highly customized. Two examples would be apache and MySQL.. You can download the source then compile the source to fit your needs. On the other hand binary is a pre-compiled source for your specific distribution. Normally software developers will pre-compile package to eliminate differences between compilers and to speed up the installation time on the actual machine. The only real downside, like RPM, is that these pre-compiled packages are normally not highly customizable. Most of the time they are also compiled to fit the most number of users.. One final thing.. most of the time Source/Binary packages come in tar, tar.gz, or tar.bz2 formats. Tar is pretty much like .zip or .rar for windows. Hope this helps.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shug7272 Posted October 20, 2006 CID Share Posted October 20, 2006 How did I know Swimmer would be the one to nail this one. Thanks bud, if nothing else I learned alot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danny_Boy_69 Posted October 20, 2006 Author CID Share Posted October 20, 2006 so how would i compile the sourse into my system just incase i dont find the rpm files Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VyraX Posted October 20, 2006 CID Share Posted October 20, 2006 Best way to learn Linux from my experience is from the command prompt point of view. Install the system without a GUI for Serving Webpages, etc.. This way you are guaranteed to get your hands dirty in setting up config files, networking, learning the basic how-to's.. Found Slackware11 to be a great set-up, I recently installed in on my RackMount IBM x305 1Unit Server.. Let me tell you it works great.. Might get another Server for running Torrents and serving out files to my network and wifi connections.. TorrentFlux, Apache, MySQL, php, ntop, brute force detection - all great software to play with on a non-graphical-user-interface install.. (without KDE) That isn't counting the endless apps for monitoring wifi traffic.. Just better off installing it that way, now you are forced to learn it, in order to make it work.. Linux is basically MS-DOS on Steroids!! :shock: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swimmer Posted October 20, 2006 CID Share Posted October 20, 2006 so how would i compile the sourse into my system just incase i dont find the rpm files If they dont have an rpm based install then you would download the source.. then untar it.. then most of the time you are going to need to be on the root account.. From there most of the time there is a configure file.. so you would run the command ./configure.. this would configure the system for building the program... the make which does a pre-compile i guess of the install files.. then make install..which then compiles the rest of the program and mades it useable for the user. All of this is done with the command prompt.. I would still recommend a gui interface for the beginner.. but try to do most of the stuff in a shell.. The one resource that I found really helpful was the bible series of my distribution.. For $50 it will get you started in the right direction with a solid base of what is going on. From there it is just a matter of using the software... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VyraX Posted October 20, 2006 CID Share Posted October 20, 2006 Virtual Training Center, has some quick videos you can feature without paying for them. Nothing is better than seeing it done from listening and viewing to learn. Its FREE, and it sure does help giving a heads up on what to expect. Here are the videos: VTC Linux Tutorials Probably can find them elsewhere, but I hear its only when you get Torrential rains.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swimmer Posted October 20, 2006 CID Share Posted October 20, 2006 that is a pretty good resource you have there.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shug7272 Posted October 20, 2006 CID Share Posted October 20, 2006 I would like Danny's permission to change the title of this thread for search purposes due to the great information contained here from Swimmer and the gang. PM sent Danny. Ok Danny said go for it (thanks Man) Swimmer if you can think of a better title for searches to hit feel free to change it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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