The Linux Way
Linux comes with a system called Package Management. There is a program on the machine which maintains a list of what software is available, and downloads and installs it for you. In Linpus Linux, this package manager is called Pirut.
Getting Started
To start Pirut:
- Either enable the right-click menus (see this thread: http://www.aspireoneuser.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=28#p158). This is the better approach since software you install will generally be available from the right-click menu. Right-click on the screen, then select System -> Add/Remove Software from the menu.
- Or start a run dialog (Alt-F2) and type 'pirut' in the dialog box and click OK.
Pirut asks you for your password: enter it and OK the box. Be aware that it takes some time for Pirut to come to life - it seems to create a full list of available software each time, rather than keeping a cache, so be patient at this point.
Pirut Screens
The first Pirut screen lists categories of software; select a category (for example, Applications), then tick a sub-category in the list on the right (for example, 'Educational Software'). If you now click 'Optional Packages' you'll get a list of what can be installed under that category: tick packages you want, close this dialog, and click 'Apply'.
On the second Pirut tab, there is a Search box. If you know roughly the name of the package you want (for eaxample 'Amarok'), search for that term. A list of possible packages will come up - select the one you want, tick it and click 'Apply'.
Finally there is the List tab. This is frankly not very useful - it's just a list of all the software available. However it may be useful to check what is actually installed on your machine.
What happens now?
When you click 'Apply', Pirut does two things. First, it checks whether there are any Dependencies - if you've selected a package there may be other packages it needs to run. Linux software often depends on libraries, which need installing before the package itself can be installed, and may require other software to be present. Pirut will warn you that it is going to install more than you originally asked for, but usually you want it to do this so that your new software will run.
Second, it will connect to the repository, download your package and any dependencies, and install the software for you.
Occasionally, dependencies may fail. This is not very common, but it does happen. If it does, there are often ways to sort it out, but they are more complex. Ask for help on the forums, copying in the error messages Pirut provides.
Finding your new Software
When it finishes, the software is usually available in the right-click menu system - but If you have installed a package without a graphical interface, it usually won't appear in the menu, because you have to run it from a terminal (so there's not a lot of point in it having its own menu entry). Probably most of what you want will be graphical and so will be in the menu.
My software doesn't work!
Three possibilities:
- It wasn't going to work anyway: it doesn't do what you thought it did. Use Pirut to remove it again.
- It needs additional packages to do what you want (so it works at a more basic level). If it tells you what packages it wants, install them in the same way; if not, ask for help on the forums.
- It's not the brand new version you saw described on its website, so bits of it don't work. The repository software is often not the most up to date version, both because someone has to take the trouble to package it for the repository, and because the latest versions often also have the latest bugs. If you really need the latest version, you'll need to find out about downloading the source code and compiling it yourself. That's not actually as scary as it sounds, but it's not a topic for this more simple guide.
The software I want isn't listed
In that case, you may need to find an rpm package somewhere (for example, you can download an rpm package for Skype) and install it using the terminal. You need to find an rpm package suitable for Fedora 8. The command you need to install from the terminal is:
- Code: Select all
sudo rpm -Uhv name_of_package
(where name_of_package is obviously replaced by the name of the package you've downloaded, including the directory path to get to it). Again, the package management system will try to resolve any dependencies for you.
If there is no rpm package available, again you are looking at downloading the source and compiling.
