Installing Stuff

Rhys · 12 Jul 2007 at 14:01

With Windows you download an exe or msi. Double Click and it installs. Pretty straight forward.

I have got Mint Linux 3.0.

How can I achive the same sort of user friendliness as a Windows install?

If I download a file onto a usb stick and want to install it on a machine with Mint Linux on how do I do it? It can be that hard?

Hate · 12 Jul 2007 at 14:30

Mint is ubuntu, which uses debian.

So look for a .deb file, and you should be able to just double click it.

alternatively use a package manager like synaptic to download a compatable binary.

.walls · 12 Jul 2007 at 14:36

It depends on your package manager and how your distro handles it.

You can get binary packages for your distro which you can double click on such as .rpm (Red hat Package Manager) or .deb for debian based distros (which I believe Mint is).

You will have to choose ones specifically for your distro, though - for example, a .deb binary for Debian will not necessarily work on Mint and vice versa.

Personally, I find command line installers such as pacman, apt-get and smart much easier... you don't have to hunt down the files to install - as it's all in the repositories for your distro. I would like to have that functionality in windows!!!

Mobius 1 · 12 Jul 2007 at 15:41

ive got mint linux and use synaptic program manager thingy.

i love how they pre install ENVY for easy graphic card installation.

SiriusB · 12 Jul 2007 at 20:27

Synaptic Package Manager is very good.

If you have an Internet connection you can just about install anything you want. The beauty of the system is anything you download and install will be the latest version and also compatible.

If you need to install something on a PC running Mint that doesn't have an Internet connection you can download the packages and Synaptic will create a small script that can be loaded into the other PC and it will automatically install everything.

To install a .deb package from the command line, change directory to where the .deb file is and enter

Code:

dpkg -i nameoffile.deb

Tis dead easy once you have done it a few times.

Rhys · 12 Jul 2007 at 21:30

SiriusB said:
Synaptic Package Manager is very good.

If you have an Internet connection you can just about install anything you want. The beauty of the system is anything you download and install will be the latest version and also compatible.

If you need to install something on a PC running Mint that doesn't have an Internet connection you can download the packages and Synaptic will create a small script that can be loaded into the other PC and it will automatically install everything.

To install a .deb package from the command line, change directory to where the .deb file is and enter

Code:

dpkg -i nameoffile.deb

Tis dead easy once you have done it a few times.

Thanks,this bit Im trying to work out in my Windowsised brain

SiriusB · 12 Jul 2007 at 22:18

As was said in the other thread [Why install Linux?] you basically need to delete the Windows way of things from your brain.

Rhys · 12 Jul 2007 at 23:00

SiriusB said:
As was said in the other thread [Why install Linux?] you basically need to delete the Windows way of things from your brain.

righty, right.

whitecrook · 18 Jul 2007 at 09:52

Rhys said:
righty, right.

And Debian based distros are known for having the most pre-packaged stuff - there should rarely be an occasion when you need to 'download and install a .deb'

If the package you're looking for isn't in the main (official) repos, chances are the package maintainer has their own repsoistory which you add to /etc/apt/sources.list (a text file of internet locations) and then you install using Synaptic in the usual way.

See here for a rundown on unofficial stuff
http://blog.kovyrin.net/2006/03/27/unofficial-debian-reposotories-overview/