Linux help! - installation

[iluvchairs112]

I just installed Ubuntu Linux on my new laptop a couple days ago.
However I cannot seem to get anything to install (or any .exe files to run)
I know it involves using the admin password or something like that.
and I have tried using terminal (in accessories) but still can't seem to get it to work
I want to install Java so I can view more websites and I just can't.

Any help at all is appreciated!
Thanks

(p.s. I have searched google quite a bit already and haven't found much)

[TheFerret]

You can't run exes on linux, you would either have to download the packages and compile them yourself or use a package manager... In terminal, it would be apt-get install *name of package* or there is the GUI one in one of the menus (of which i forget the name)...

Also, for apt-get you would have to run that as root or su...

[rizzix]

I believe ubuntu has a GUI interface to the package manager. You can look that up.

[Zeroth]

Linux(and by extension, Ubuntu) has a completely different way of handling installs.

Is your computer a 64 bit chip?

Take a look at this short guide:
http://ubuntuland.nireblog.com/post/2007/09/22/35-cool-applications-to-install-on-ubuntu-804-hardy-heron

Okay, a quick primer:

Ubuntu uses the package manager, called apt. There are a couple of useful tasks to do with apt, first is installation.

code:

sudo apt-get install <package name>

Via the Terminal. sudo tells Ubuntu you want root priveliges, apt-get is a specific command to execute, and install is what apt-get should do with the package-name. Say, you want to install mplayer, then you would type sudo apt-get install mplayer

Apt will take care of all needed dependencies for you.

Conversely, you can replace install with remove to remove a package.

What if you want to find a package? You can use

code:

apt-cache search <keywords>

to find all packages that have those keywords.

There is a gui, but I find it quite slow, even on a fairly modern pc. It is under System->Administration->Synaptic.

Its pretty user-friendly, just search, and click on the checkbox beside a package.

The philosophy behind all this is that almost all of your needs can be handled by a central repository of pre-made packages. Packages describe their dependencies, how to install, and have the binaries/source all ready to go. The benefits is that only one application ever needs to check for updates, and you can update huge swaths of your applications in one go.

There are exceptions to the above philosophy, but it is hoped that by the time you encounter them, your google-fu is much stronger.

[Euphoracle]

There is another gui. Type "sudo aptitude"

[apomb]

Euphoracle @ Mon Jul 28, 2008 3:56 pm wrote:

There is another gui. Type "sudo aptitude"

if you value your sanity, do NOT use aptitude... synaptic is a much more powerful/useable package manager... and theres a nifty "search" function too

[iluvchairs112]

this is what I wrote into terminal:

code:

sudo apt-get install javainstallationone.exe

this is what came up:sudo apt-get install javainstallationone.exe

code:

Reading package lists... Done Building dependency tree Reading state information... Done E: Couldn't find package javainstallationone.exe

I have that file javainstallationone.exe on my Desktop
why can't it find it?

[DemonWasp]

Behold, simple instructions (second result on Google when searching "install java on Ubuntu"):

https://jdk-distros.dev.java.net/ubuntu.html

That'll help you install Java 1.5 (which is enough to run nearly anything you'll find on the web). If you need Java 1.6, then it's slightly more involved, but not terrible.

NOTE: Those are instructions for Ubuntu 6.06, but you should be able to do exactly the same thing on 8.04. If not, I can help more once I'm back on my own machines (silly Windows machines at work). Also, you should ignore steps 1-4, and just start with #5. Steps 1-4 are to install the OS, which you've already done.

[Zeroth]

We said, four TIMES, that .exes don't work. With sudo apt-get install, you give the name of a package you don't have yet! No downloading from random sites... apt-get takes care of it for you. Its all handled in one repository. So, the process would be, perhaps...

code:

apt-cache search jdk sudo apt-get install jdk-1.6 <snip>

Linux WORKS DIFFERENTLY. That is its strength. Very rarely do you need to download an executable from Random Site A, and install it. Repositories manage it all for you.

[iluvchairs112]

I understand that Linux works differently but I don't yet understand how it works!

And sorry but I am still confused because ...

how would I download a game or a program or anything from the Internet and run it then?

[btiffin]

Carefully.

Kidding aside; apps off the net will come with an installer script install.sh or the like, or more commonly a source code tarball that you will need to extract, then run make on (many times with a ./configure - which builds a makefile after querying your system for what is available in terms of compilers, headers and other optional bits).

Far easier is to snag pre-packaged apps as everyone has been saying. Ubuntu has thousands of DEB (apt) compatible packages.

And if you really want to try a Windows app, check out the WINE system. It'll be a package under apt called wine and deets are at http://www.winehq.org It just recently went 1.0 so people are happy. Many games are listed as functional.

Cheers

[Euphoracle]

apomb @ Tue Jul 29, 2008 8:38 am wrote:

Euphoracle @ Mon Jul 28, 2008 3:56 pm wrote:

There is another gui. Type "sudo aptitude"

if you value your sanity, do NOT use aptitude... synaptic is a much more powerful/useable package manager... and theres a nifty "search" function too

Aptitude has this too iirc. It's a gui that can be used FROM the shell, which is what I like about it.

[DemonWasp]

Actually, there are a whole variety of ways to "install" programs on Linux. The ones mentioned above (using Add/Remove Programs under the Applications menu) is by far the easiest, and will generally have the application you want.

If you're going to "install" something more complex, you may have to compile it yourself (as btiffin said), or manually get the packages (using synaptic, preferably). Generally best to have some instructions when doing this, because it's non-obvious.

Some "installers" are even easier - just put the folder somewhere and you can run it, with no install procedure required (Eclipse works like this - just extract the gzipped tar file and run the eclipse program).

Worthy of note: Linux does NOT use a registry in the same sense that Windows does, so the install process generally isn't nearly so difficult as it is on Windows, and can often be done manually in a few seconds (for example, unzipping / untar-ing an archive is about a 2-second task with the GUI). This is (part of) why most places do NOT have packaged install or setup files (the other part is that there's a lot of variation in Linux, and any one setup isn't guaranteed to work everywhere - even RPMs and .debs aren't useful everywhere).

What software are you trying to install, specifically? We can provide more specific instructions if we know that.

[Aziz]

And as far as I know, you want java for just running things on the internet.

In terminal:

code:

sudo apt-get install java

You'll to type in your password.

Should do it. Read beginner linux guides. You CANNOT install windows applications on linux directly. You'll have to use Wine to run .exe files (and .msi), but I wouldn't recomend this for anything but games that don't have a port.

Most open-source applications have separate linux binaries (just search the available repositories). Most windows-only apps have better linux alternatives.

[wtd]

One of the best things about Linux is repository-based package management.

Instead of scouring the internet for a place to download the software you need, clicking through ten or eleven links for the actual download page hidden among the ads, and then worrying about the installer either not working or installing malicious software...

Instead of all that, you fire up Synaptic, do a search, mark the package you want (they come with descriptions) for installation and install. If there's a dependency it will tell you that. As long as you're okay with the extras it needs, it'll automatically download and install those for you.

And because packages are in a centralized repository, if word gets out that something is malicious, t'd be removed from the repository, and then no one using that repository would be exposed to it.