Installing software in linux

I am using Suse 8.1 on my laptop. I use it for college, typing and other work like compiling java, when i was using windows.

Can somebody show me how they can install an SDK?

The instructions on Suns website don't cut if with me, being a n00b and all to this.

Lets start by saying i have the SDK sitting on my desktop, whats the next step? The SDK is a bin file.


Another issue i have with installing software is mozilla and licq, this is for my desktop machine. licq is for version 8.0 of suse, which i am sure will work with 8.1, the file is an rpm and mozilla is a gz file.
I've read the readme on the gz file btw.

Lets also assume i know nothing of the command line. :)

rpms are installed with:

rpm -Uvh filename.rpm

where "filename.rpm" is the name of the file.

Any errors post them back here.

The tar.gz file is probably installed like this:

unpack it first:

tar -zxvf filename.tar.gz

unpacks to a directory, change dir into that directory:

cd filename

now there will be an INSTALL file or README file, read it like this:

more INSTALL

or

more README

it will tell you what to do. Its more than likely going to be something along the lines of:

./configure
make
make install


Remember that these operations will require you to become root. Either log in as root or "su" to root with the "su" command.

Originally posted by CrackedButter
Can somebody show me how they can install an SDK?

The instructions on Suns website don't cut if with me, being a n00b and all to this.

Lets start by saying i have the SDK sitting on my desktop, whats the next step? The SDK is a bin file.

Open up terminal (command line window) and start the bin file by going to that directory (changing directories is done with cd command, note that directory delimiter is /, not \ like in non-alternative OSs), whatever it is (it might be easier to move the file to your home directory), simply by typing ./j2sdk-1_4_1_01-linux-i586.bin or whatever the filename is. It's a self-extracting installer which installs Java SDK in a directory named j2sdk1.4.1_<version number> in the current directory.

U sure it's the current directory? My really bad memory says it was /usr :confused:

While i will try these suggestions don't be surprised if i cannot do it. :)

As a side note, i installed Licq on my system, at this time i have not been able to get it to work. I click on it in the menu and the flower icon appears then after a period of time, everything just disappears. Is there something i can do to get this to work?

This is the version of licq that i said should work on suse 8.1 when licq is for version 8.0! :)

Try starting licq from command line - applications usually display some information there if something goes wrong.

How do i do that? Remember i said i am a total n00b with the command line

Just type licq at the command line, it should start.

meltedbutter@linux:~> licq
13:24:14: [WRN] Licq: Ignoring stale lockfile (pid 3148)
13:24:14: [ERR] Unable to load plugin (qt-gui): /usr/local/lib/licq/licq_qt-gui.so: undefined symbol: __ti7QDialog.

Thats what i get when i type "licq"

as a side note whats the command that gives a systems uptime, showing how long its been running for?

Those licq problems seem like wrong QT version, though I'm not 100% sure. I guess SuSE ChangeLog doesn't show those details. Hmm.. one option would be downloading licq source and doing the "./configure, make, make install"-dance.

Uptime command is uptime, w displays a bit more information, too.

I hardly ever bother with RPMs myself, its meant to make things easy but it leans towards complications for me always.... I tend to always download the source code and ./configure, make, make install, etc...

Originally posted by Phantasm66
I hardly ever bother with RPMs myself, its meant to make things easy but it leans towards complications for me always.... I tend to always download the source code and ./configure, make, make install, etc...

While i can understand your method, is this the better way for someone like myself?

Is it not harder?

Well, not really much harder when you realise that its like the same set of 6 or so commands in 95% of cases....

Its certainly more likely to work if you do it properly....

Okay i have the tar file unzipped and its inside a folder i create called "licq", thats sitting on the desktop. Whats the next stage now?

you can give me the instructions for mozilla as well if you want since that is also in a folder extracted from the tar file.

open a command prompt
navigate to the directory that you just untarred.

The desktop is probably not the best place - I would suggest a "download" directory in your home directory in which you can untar files.

Your desktop will be something like .gnome-desktop or .desktop or something directory in your home directory.

Once inside, consult the INSTALL file, which you can read by entering the following command:

more INSTALL

or it may be called README, thus:

more README

Anyway, there will be simple instructions. Read and follow those, but its very likely to be:

./configure
make
make install


which is it for about 95% of software out there in this form.

Just out of curiosty, where i am to enter the command, in the location bar or open a console?

ABSOLUTELY...


....on an open console....

There are 4 README files each explaining an issue hte software has with clients and servers whatever. But there are 2 makefile files. Are these what you mean?

Also can you explain what you mean by this:

"./configure
make
make install"

sound silly and its probably why it isn't working but when i fire up the console all i get is:"meltedbutter@linux:~>"

I thought it might be like DOS where if you open a command prompt in a folder it would automatically give the folders location all typed out. <<< edited.

Okay so nobody bothered to tell me i should have the terminal icon on the knoqeuerer menu bar.
I've added it now myself and its added the location for me.

Damn, just realised i am not in root.

Is this not a catch 22, i have to do this in root but i am asking for advice while on the net and i'm not supposed to be doing that am i?

okay this is what i get in the terminal:

linux:/home/meltedbutter/Download/Licq/licq-1.2.0a # ./configure
loading cache ./config.cache
checking host system type... i686-pc-linux-gnuoldld
checking target system type... i686-pc-linux-gnuoldld
checking build system type... i686-pc-linux-gnuoldld
checking for a BSD compatible install... /usr/bin/install -c
checking whether build environment is sane... yes
checking whether make sets ${MAKE}... no
checking for working aclocal... missing
checking for working autoconf... missing
checking for working automake... missing
checking for working autoheader... missing
checking for working makeinfo... found
checking for gcc... no
checking for cc... no
configure: error: no acceptable cc found in $PATH
linux:/home/meltedbutter/Download/Licq/licq-1.2.0a #

While i am at it, anybody know how to copy an paste this text into another text box without having to drag it all the time? I notice there is a paste function on the terminal menu but no copy function.

Anyway, i type "make" and i then get this:bash: make: command not found

If you want command line to display the directory path before the prompt, you need to edit a hidden file in your home directory, .bashrc or .profile.
Add a line

export PS1='$PWD>'

there and you're done. However, I'm not sure if terminals started inside GUI use it..

Those errors you're getting mean you haven't installed a C/C++ compiler - SuSE may have something like "development tools" or something you should install.

The reason I sound a bit vague is that it's been a while since I used Linux and when I did, it was a version made from scratch, not a big distribution like Red Hat or SuSE.

You can do stuff as root by using su command when you're logged in as a normal user.

bah i have installed how ever many compilers there are. I'll try again.
This is what i get:

linux:/home/meltedbutter/Download/Licq/licq-1.2.0a # make
make: *** No targets specified and no makefile found. Stop.

okay with the "su" command, its quite neat and saves a load of time, thanks!

life is a little easyier now.

okay after installing ALL the C++ Compliers and now re ran the ./configure command, it goes running the linux stuff and ends with this:

linux:/home/meltedbutter/Download/Licq/licq-1.2.0a # ./configure
loading cache ./config.cache
checking host system type... i686-pc-linux-gnu
checking target system type... i686-pc-linux-gnu
checking build system type... i686-pc-linux-gnu
checking for a BSD compatible install... /usr/bin/install -c
checking whether build environment is sane... yes
checking whether make sets ${MAKE}... yes
checking for working aclocal... found
checking for working autoconf... found
checking for working automake... found
checking for working autoheader... found
checking for working makeinfo... found
checking for gcc... gcc
checking whether the C compiler (gcc ) works... yes
checking whether the C compiler (gcc ) is a cross-compiler... no
checking whether we are using GNU C... yes
checking whether gcc accepts -g... yes
checking how to run the C preprocessor... gcc -E
checking for c++... c++
checking whether the C++ compiler (c++ ) works... yes
checking whether the C++ compiler (c++ ) is a cross-compiler... no
checking whether we are using GNU C++... yes
checking whether c++ accepts -g... yes
checking whether c++ accepts -fno-exceptions -fno-check-new... yes
checking how to run the C++ preprocessor... c++ -E
checking for POSIXized ISC... no
checking whether make sets ${MAKE}... (cached) yes
checking for a BSD compatible install... /usr/bin/install -c
checking for ranlib... ranlib
checking for strip... /usr/bin/strip
checking for size... /usr/bin/size
Setting Linux compilation options
checking for dirent.h that defines DIR... yes
checking for opendir in -ldir... no
checking for ANSI C header files... yes
checking for errno.h... yes
checking for fcntl.h... yes
checking for getopt.h... yes
checking for limits.h... yes
checking for malloc.h... yes
checking for pwd.h... yes
checking for unistd.h... yes
checking for paths.h... yes
checking for inet_addr in -lxnet... no
checking for socket in -lsocket... no
checking for gethostbyname in -lnsl... yes
checking for pthread_cancel in -lc_r... no
checking for pthread_cancel in -lpthread... yes
checking for dlopen in -lc_r... no
checking for dlopen in -lc... no
checking for dlopen in -ldl... yes
checking for dlopen modes... RTLD_LAZY
checking for inet_addr... yes
checking for inet_aton... yes
checking for mktime... yes
checking for select... yes
checking for strdup... yes
checking for strerror... yes
checking for hstrerror... yes
checking for readdir_r... yes
checking whether to enable SOCKS5 support... no
checking if OpenSSL support is desired... yes
checking for openssl/ssl.h... no
checking if OpenSSL support can be enabled... no
checking for vector.h... no
configure: error: You need to have the libstdc++ headers installed

Problem is, i do have the libstdc++ program installed and everything else called "libstdc++", if there is anything else then please i'm all ears.

It probably expects certain version of that library. Some buggy apps do. They can be fooled by creating a link from existing libstdcc* to the one they want, I don't know what licq wants however.

The problem could be that as you're using a new OS, libraries have been updated, which means that their filenames are changed, so applications don't find them anymore.

Sorry that things are this difficult, usually apps compile with just a few commands.

Difficult yes, i can see why its such a chore to install programs in linux as opposed to windows.
Makes me think i am doing something wrong.