Installing Software Under Linux
Well, there are 2 kinds of software under Linux, one is commercial and
the other is open source code.
Uncompress the tar.gz file you have downloaded
Just go to a directory, example : /home/gogota, and
tar zxvf /mnt/floppy/mp3player.tar.gz
If your tar.gz file is inside /mnt/floppy and the filename is mp3player.tar.gz
Commercial Software
Installing a commercial one is just simple...just try to look for some
file name 'install' or 'setup' and run it.
If it doesn't work, try sh install or ./install
Remember, there are two types of library in Linux, one is libc5 and
the other is glib6, if you install the wrong one, your program won't even
run at all !!
Make sure you get the correct library version before you install it
! Different distribution using different library !!!!!!!!
Open Source Code Software
Ok....after you have untar the files that you have downloaded, look carefully
at the files that it has created inside the directory. There should be
a 'Makefile' or a 'configure' file. If yours only has configure files,
just run it, the configure script will check your computer enviroment
and make a nice 'Makefile' for you. (if configure won't run, try ./configure
or sh configure).
Now, we are ready to compile the program !
Type make to start the compiling process. Make is an utility
that read your 'Makefile' and convert your source code to machine binary
code. It using GCC in the process.
After that , just make install
Note : I recommend you read the README or INSTALL file before you
install any software !
Installing Program That Run On X Windows
I have to remind you that if you are installing a program that only run
on x windows, it will be very tricky and you must install all the library
before you can compile it. And you must make sure the library is in the
right path !
Some of the famous library is gtk+, qt and tcl.
Try edit /etc/ld.so.conf and add the path and run ldconfig if
the installation program cannot find the file but actually it is there.