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    Linux Newbie

    Ok guys finally thought i'd take the plunge and give linux a try, now i'm a fairly advanced windows user but i have to admit have no knowledge of linux, so got the iso's for mandrake 9.2 and was pleasently supprrised to get it installed on my laptop up and runnig with no more diffeculty then windows, it even detected my betwork card for me, with a bit of fiddling in drakecontrol center got it to work on my network as well so have internet access, but heres my problem, downloaded the linux version of firebird, saved to my usr directory and extracted it, but what do i do next, is there a linux eqivelent of an exe file, how do i install it and get it runnig?, any help appreciated.
    i5 | Antec Sonata 3 | 4 GB | OCZ Vertex | Spinpoint F3 | Windows 7

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    the standard system for Mandrake and RedHat is install packages called RPM's

    There's two ways to install and uninstall RPM's: Using the Mandrake wizardy thing, or on the command line. I won't explain the wizardy thing, it's really easy, but on the command line:

    rpm -ivh installs and rpm -e uninstalls, so say you've downloaded a package called 'firebird-1.2.2.rpm' , then change directory to where that file is, and issue 'rpm -ivh firebird-1.2.2.rpm'

    The tricky part is 'dependancies': some packages may depend on other packages which in turn depend on others. You often end up installing a whole load of stuff just to get one thing working. If an RPM complains that it needs something or other, go to rpmfind.net, search for 'somethingorother' and download a package suitable for Mandrake.

    The Mandrake online documentation is very good and newbie-friendly. Have a good read before you start messing about with the system! http://www.mandrakeuser.org/docs/basics/index.html#is (scroll down to the 'installing software' section)

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    Comfortably Numb directhex's Avatar
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    or use a distro that doesn't use RPM's, so doesn't suffer dependancy problems. "apt-get gnome" under a Debian-based disto will get every single dependancy automatically, saving a whole lot of hastle (e.g. "apt-get mozilla-firebird" will download & install firebird & its dependancies to all the right places)

    another good reason to skip Mandrake & go straight to a user-friendly distro with user-friendly package management

    like MEPIS

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    Senior Member Kezzer's Avatar
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    OR just get apt get for your RPM based distro

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    Well Mandrake also comes with urpmi which does the same thing, but I didn't want to confuse the poor lad with all that malarky when all he asked was 'how do I install software'!

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    HEXUS webmaster Steve's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by KeZZeR
    OR just get apt get for your RPM based distro
    Like me and ClarkConnect.
    PHP Code:
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    HEXUS.social member Agent's Avatar
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    I think im going to try MEPIS just to see what Jo keeps raving on about
    Quote Originally Posted by Saracen View Post
    And by trying to force me to like small pants, they've alienated me.

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    Senior Member Kezzer's Avatar
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    apt-get is far superior to RPM.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Agent
    I think im going to try MEPIS just to see what Jo keeps raving on about
    i've been trying it this evening - and so far it looks very good. looks better and seems more polished than knoppix. also seems much easier to install to hard drive

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    Ive always used Slackware but lately i tried MEPIS and i loved the apt-get system, but i didnt like all the "gubbins" that came with it, so i downloaded Disc1 of Debian Woody and got installing it, at the end i ended up with a system with the 2.6 Kernal, Xfree86, Synaptic, Gnome and Mozilla installed. After that you can go about getting the things you need, and forget about all the other bits and bobs that start up with other distro's, very fast and very sleek Just my opinion!

    Cr4iG

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    debian is more hard work. for example, woody is based on the 2.2 kernel, so i can't actually install it. getting ahold of a net install cd for sarge (debian 3.1) or sid (debian 3.2) is more productive

    i still prefer something with a minimum of fuss though

    that said, i tried Lindows earlier today, and it sucks

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    Best way to get yourself Sid is to either download CD1 of Debian and install Woody or get a Knoppix livecd and do a HDD Install, then in your /etc/apt/sources.list change all the entries of "stable" to "unstable", or in some cases, all of the entries of "woody" to "sarge" then do apt-get update then apt-get dist-upgrade and you have yourself Sid! Easy peasy

    Cr4iG

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    Comfortably Numb directhex's Avatar
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    or use mepis, which is already based on sid

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    Lazy git

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    Senior Member joshwa's Avatar
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    Mepis is much better than knoppix from what i've seen (used) of both of them. installing mepis to a computer and then configuring it is all very easy and it actually works better than any other linux i've ever tried

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    Quote Originally Posted by www.josh.org.uk
    Mepis is much better than knoppix from what i've seen (used) of both of them. installing mepis to a computer and then configuring it is all very easy and it actually works better than any other linux i've ever tried
    How much has Jo paid you ?
    Quote Originally Posted by Saracen View Post
    And by trying to force me to like small pants, they've alienated me.

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