SOLVED - Problems installing Skype

[Oceanwatcher]

As I really need to have Skype running, I have downloaded the latest version for the Ubuntu range of distros. But when I doubleclick on the downloaded package, I get an error.

"Could not open 'skype-debian_2.0.0.72-1_i386.deb'
The package might be corrupted or you are not allowed to open the file. Check the permissions of the file"

I have a feeling this is a permission issue. What should the permissions be for this file?

[nardusg]

Re: Problems installing Skype

did you do the following ?

sudo dpkg -i skype-debian_2.0.0.72-1_i386.deb

[Oceanwatcher]

Re: Problems installing Skype

Nope. I did what everyone else would do that is not "into" Linux. Just double click on the downloaded file on the desktop. And I presume this should work. So there must be something I am not seeing.

Yes, I know that you can use CLI, but there are two things here for me. One is that I would like to see how things are done with a GUI as I am recommending it to everyone around me. And they have no clue how to use CLI. And seriously - why should they? We are talking about people of all ages - also some well beyond 60

Another things is that I am somehow overlooking where to find the terminal window. In my opinion, I have looked everywhere. But I know it must be here somewhere, I am just not able to find it...

[flarson]

Re: Problems installing Skype

I can't resist exploding some of the assumptions here. What you see in the GUI is at best a one off representation of what is actually causing things to work and as such more likely to have errors than the text configuration files and more likely to introduce errors.

Many people over 60 have a better understanding of Unix, Linux and command line than many of the under 30 crowd who have always used Windows and feel insulted if something is not given to them in a GUI which totally limits what they can do.

Also, many people over 60 are learning all the time. I have personally taught a few people over 60 to fly, and I know many who are using new technology everyday and are more willing to learn than many younger people who think they already know something.

As to why should they care about the CLI, it is in the first part of this statement. CLI takes you to the real lowdown, where things are actually happening. If you want to know, go there. If you want to run a word processor, learn a only a GUI. Notice I said "only a GUI". There is nothing wrong with GUI and in fact KDE 4.2 is a great new development in that area, but it is not sufficient. If you really want to know you must use CLI.

[Oceanwatcher]

Re: Problems installing Skype

No need to "explode" anything at all.

I have been using various versions of Linux over the last 15 years and most of it has been done using CLI. Even today, I am running a Ubuntu server here in my house with no GUI.

But it gets tiring after a while. I do not have any urge at all to memorize commands. Why should I do that when a well laid out GUI can present all my choices in a visible way? Also, I do not run the server just to admire the code or to explore CLI. I run the server to get a job done. And the less energy I have to put into running that server, the better it is. My job is not administrating servers. So after the server has been set up, I do not touch it for long periods of time. Commands will be forgotten and I need to search online to remember. Time wasted.

I know CLI is powerful. If you feel like using it, by all means do. But this urge that many people in the Linux community have to push CLI on every new Linux user is just too much.

Most people that come to Linux these days are not programmers. They have no intention of even looking at source code. They just want a stable OS that do the job.They want to surf the internet, read mail, communicate with friends and family through IM, write some reports and do some calculations. Throw in playing a little music and most if it is covered.

Yes, I know there are people out there that are able to learn CLI. Again - why should they when all they want is to do their everyday communication and entertainment?

Even if I know how to use CLI does not mean I have to like it. In fact, the more I use it, the more I hate it. And I have used it a lot... This thing about "Start to use CLI and you will soon love it" is just a myth. For most people CLI is the thing that keep them away from Linux. So I am extremely grateful for the fantastic work that is being done by the KDE team and everyone else that work on GUI related stuff. It makes running a computer a lot easier.

I have just installed 9.04 alpha6 and love it. It is going to be a great release! I write about software and a big part of that is to explore how easy it is for someone totally new to get up and running. In my experience it gets easier and easier almost for every day passing.

[GreyGeek]

Re: Problems installing Skype

...
Many people over 60 have a better understanding of Unix, Linux and command line than many of the under 30 crowd who have always used Windows and feel insulted if something is not given to them in a GUI which totally limits what they can do.

And, like me, at 68, many people over 60 ran Windows since the DOS days ended and never ran a *nix until Linux, in my case ten years ago this May.

Also, many people over 60 are learning all the time. I have personally taught a few people over 60 to fly, and I know many who are using new technology everyday and are more willing to learn than many younger people who think they already know something.

Mando_hacker, I didn't know you were a flight instructor!! I learned to fly when I was 41, for business purposes. I continued my training till I was half-way through the hours required for Instrument flight training when I realized that I could never afford the time necessary to keep current in order to fly a few extra times under marginal weather conditions. I brought my Instrument Flight instructor along on a 3 day business trip in order to do some serious under-the-hood and bad weather flying. It was the icing up on the wings and tail on the Cessna Centurion 206 that I was flying that convinced me that I didn't want to fly in that kind of weather. I also realized that flying single engine land was practical for me only for distances between 200 miles and 1,000 miles because of the necessary preparation that SHOULD precede each flight. I learned that lesson the hard way. There was a short, 90 mile hop that I few occasional to support a computer installation at a newspaper. I jumped into a Cessna 152 with the necessary Apple powersupply and took off. No preparations. Because it was overcast with 600 foot ceilings I did the scud run at 500'. Flying that low the land looked entirely different and to make a short story shorter... I got lost. Loop City had a unicom airport, unattended. No beacon or any other homing device. No town radio, either. Couldn't climb, couldn't decend. Luckily, I happen to remember the radio frequency of a Kearney radio station and flew its signal to Kearney the way the Japanese pilots found Pearl harbor. Then I flew IFR (I follow Roads) down Interstate 80 till I got back to Grand Island. I got in my car and four hours after I left in the C152 I arrived at Loop City in my car. I NEVER left the ground after that without my maps and giving at least 10 minutes of prep for each hour of flight. Oh, and that was the end of scud running, too.

I was 65 when I decided to learn C++ and use it and Qt4 to write applications. The problem I have now, at 68, is that I forget too quickly after I learn.

As to why should they care about the CLI, it is in the first part of this statement. CLI takes you to the real lowdown, where things are actually happening. If you want to know, go there. If you want to run a word processor, learn a only a GUI. Notice I said "only a GUI". There is nothing wrong with GUI and in fact KDE 4.2 is a great new development in that area, but it is not sufficient. If you really want to know you must use CLI.

Since I first used KDE with the 1.0 beta as part of SuSE 5.3 in September of 1998 (IIRC), I began to use less and less of the CLI, which I had used extensively in RH 5.0 and 5.1. Over the years subsequent verisons of KDE reduced that need even more. Kubuntu 9.04 reduces it even more, despite the tendency for a lot of GNOME/Kubuntu old-timers to drop to the CLI to use apt-get or manually edit config files Canonical's method of using "sudo" took a little getting use to. I was used to opening a Konsole and doing "su -", then entering my root password (not my acct password) and working from a root console. Using sudo to access the PostgreSQL postgres account to run plsql and configure PostgreSQL took some fancy sudo dancing. About the only thing I use a root console (or sudo) for anymore is to udpatedb so that I can use the locate command in a console to do a quick find, and I find myself doing that less and less. Kubuntu 9.04 with java6 installed even runs jar files from Dolphin with a single click.

As someone who increasingly is becoming a victim of "sometimers" disease, I find the switches for CLI utilities difficult to remember, so I usually have a second console open in order to do the man on the utility I am using. Even then, the man pages are usually so abbreviated that I often misinterpret them and goof up something that I have to back out and redo. That's why I like GUI to Linux maintenance utilites. Point and click beats having to remeber every time!

[flarson]

Re: Problems installing Skype

That scud running story is pretty good. Sometimes it is real nice to live where the land is flat and the towers few and far between. I am north of you a couple states and it gets flatter and fewer towers all the way.

I saw you mention Flight Gear the other day and it caused me to look at it, install it and try it. It is pretty good. Do you work on that?

Redhat 5 made me swear of Redhat except where someone made me use it. 4.2 was so good and in 5.0 they started overwriting configurations and I hated it. I used debian until a few weeks ago when I though I would see if Ubuntu was actually making good use of Debian to make it easier for novices.

I have been using sudo for years to allow people partial control of machines I administer so when I installed Kubuntu was a little surprised and the first thing I did was sudo -s followed by passwd. sudo is great but there are times you need to know the root password.

I guess the need for CLI depends on what you are trying to do. It is only recently that gparted came along and parted itself is so great I hardly know why anyone would want a GUI. Well, OK, I know why they do but you still lose something if you only learn the GUI and mostly that is the ability to work in a less than desirable environment. I know that one can not know everything, and we have to select what we learn , but I still need to point out from time to time that there are things beyond the GUI.

[Oceanwatcher]

Re: Problems installing Skype

I saw you mention Flight Gear the other day and it caused me to look at it, install it and try it. It is pretty good. Do you work on that?

Talk about coincidence. I did a little search yesterday on what was available for Kubuntu in the games dept. and one thing I stumbled across was FlightGear. Looks interesting even for me that never play any games beside the occasional solitaire. I get too bored with most games, but would like to try a flightsim with a good yoke (right spelling?). I also like roadracinggames using a steeringwheel and pedals. Grand Turismo can be quite entertaining, so I also looked for something like that.

I know that one can not know everything, and we have to select what we learn , but I still need to point out from time to time that there are things beyond the GUI.

Point taken But I actually wish I had a Kubuntu server with a good GUI for the most common server applications. A good example:

If you try to set up a caching DNS using bind9 you actually do not need too much information. But you need to know a lot about formatting. Here is what I figured out you need:

The IP address can just be read from other config files
The name of the server can also be read from other config files
You need the domain you want this server to be a part of
You might need the gateway IP, or maybe even this can be read from other config files
You need at least two DNS'es - OpenDNS could be provided as default

The rest is mainly formatting and that is where computers shine. Well, I can always dream :-) I know there are a couple of server apps out there, but I do not like apps that totally mess up the config files. It should be possible for someone to use CLI to do changes even after a file has been edited using a GUI app.

[GreyGeek]

Re: Problems installing Skype

I saw you mention Flight Gear the other day and it caused me to look at it, install it and try it. It is pretty good. Do you work on that?

Talk about coincidence. I did a little search yesterday on what was available for Kubuntu in the games dept. and one thing I stumbled across was FlightGear. Looks interesting even for me that never play any games beside the occasional solitaire. I get too bored with most games, but would like to try a flightsim with a good yoke (right spelling?). I also like roadracinggames using a steeringwheel and pedals. Grand Turismo can be quite entertaining, so I also looked for something like that.

FlightGear has an extensive keyboard command structure, so it is wise to print out a copy of the keyboard commands to know how to adjust settings quickly without moving the mouse out of the "yoke" mode. Using the mouse as a yoke doesn't quite feel the same as a yoke. But, over all, FG is a good FlightSim. Probably the best one made for Linux is XPlane. I purchased a copy and set it up on PCLOS a couple years ago. However, when they released an update it wouldn't fly on my video chip anymore. I hate to say it but udoubtably the BEST flight simulator is Microsoft's. My grandson run the latest copy using a yoke and foot pedals, along with a small panel cluster of controls. You apply power with the panel power levels. You drop landing gear with the gear down knob. With three displays and your head in the center it is almost like being live in the cockpit. Also, the physics engine makes the Cessna 152, 172, 206 and the Citation turbo so close to how I remember those crafts behaving it was like being in the cockpit again. Except for the Citation - I only flew Flight Safety's simulator for that. That was an experience.

When I was a kid and all through my teen, early and middle years I dreamed regularly about flying. That movie, "The Boy Who Could Fly" was an exact copy of my flying dreams. I jumped into the air from a "diving board" near my home, and if I touched anything attached to the ground I had to climb down, walk to the diving board and bounce into the air again. It was a real board in the vacant lot across the street. I had dug it into the hillside to mimic a gangplank on a pirate's ship! But, the flying was only in my dreams, regardless of how real it felt. Anyway, when I got my pilot license in 1980 the dreams stopped. I stopped flying a few years ago and the dreams returned, but FlightGear put a stop to them. One nice thing about the new set of dreams. I could will myself into the air without the need of a diving board. That was nice!


FG is not as good as Microsoft's or XPlane, but it is a LOT better than it used to be and is good enough.

[GreyGeek]

Re: Problems installing Skype

That scud running story is pretty good. Sometimes it is real nice to live where the land is flat and the towers few and far between. I am north of you a couple states and it gets flatter and fewer towers all the way.

I saw you mention Flight Gear the other day and it caused me to look at it, install it and try it. It is pretty good. Do you work on that?

Yup. I use it to satify my dream states! See the post below above for an explaination.

I have been using sudo for years to allow people partial control of machines I administer so when I installed Kubuntu was a little surprised and the first thing I did was sudo -s followed by passwd. sudo is great but there are times you need to know the root password.

Now there is a classic example. I have used sudo only since I began using Kubuntu 9.04. I looked briefly at the man pages but didn't notice the "-s" option.

-s The -s (shell) option runs the shell specified by the SHELL environment variable if it is set or the shell
as specified in passwd(5).

Even then it doesn't really say that using "-s" is the same as using "su -" to open a root Konsole, which is what happened when I just tested it. I prefer that to using sudo, except when I use kdesu.

Thanks for the tip!

[flarson]

Re: Problems installing Skype

I have not tried MS FS for a few version now, but I expect you are right. Your grandson's system sounds awesome. I am happy to have an old logitech joystick that has enough buttons for me to get Prop and mixture on the buttons and rudder on the twist axis.

The -s is not entirely the same as su. It will leave you with your users environment unless you use the -i option. Even so it will not allow you to enter the root password for disk maintenance during boot if the system has a problem, so I think it is a must to have a root password. That said the Kubuntu repair menu is a very good idea and different than anything I have seen.

[GreyGeek]

Re: Problems installing Skype

I have not tried MS FS for a few version now, but I expect you are right. Your grandson's system sounds awesome. I am happy to have an old logitech joystick that has enough buttons for me to get Prop and mixture on the buttons and rudder on the twist axis.

The MS flight sim didn't teach him how to land because he didn't know the proper procedures for entering the airport controlled space, flying the down wind leg, sighting the proper turn points and when to adjust power and flaps, when to turn base and make flap changes, and when to turn final, and how to control the power and yoke to stall just before or at the same time your wheels touch down. Or, how to do a cross-controlled landing, or what to do when you bounce, which he did a lot, initially. Like all rookie pilots he was over-controlling, didn't set trim tabs, thought you pulled the yoke back to climb and pushed it in to descend, etc. Also, EVEN WITH the yoke system, you don't feel the back pressure on the yoke when you push forward or pull back, so it is hard to adjust the trim tabs until the back pressure is just relieved, so you are always paying very close attention to the air speed indicator, instead of FEELING the plane. Also, you can't feel the the effects of an un-coordinated turn causing you to slip sideways in your seat, a sure indication that you are not stepping on the ball. So, even the MS flight sim leaves a lot to be desired. Only the Flight Safety's mechanical flight simulator, in which I flew the Cessna Citation Turbo prop, gave you the kind of feeling, but it was swiveling on a 6 axis hydrolic system.

Once I taught him how to do that stuff he began making perfect landings. I even had him doing dead-stick landings from a variety of altitudes, and doing short-field takeoffs and behind the power curve landings.

He "graduated" himself to Boeing 737's and was getting good at keeping ahead of the turbine spin up. Even made some good landings, but then his interest turned to golf and he hasn't been on the FS lately. He cleans my plow playing golf, but I am more dangerous than good. My drives can go in any direction, so no location within range is safe.

The -s is not entirely the same as su. It will leave you with your users environment unless you use the -i option. Even so it will not allow you to enter the root password for disk maintenance during boot if the system has a problem, so I think it is a must to have a root password. That said the Kubuntu repair menu is a very good idea and different than anything I have seen.

Thanks for that additional tip!

[PJJ]

Re: Problems installing Skype

did you do the following ?

sudo dpkg -i skype-debian_2.0.0.72-1_i386.deb

Do as suggested here and it will work.
I always install Skype that way. And it works well on .04.

[Fintan]

Re: Problems installing Skype

Did you install gdebi-kde?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gdebi

It is sometimes buggy on JJ we are still in alpha / beta

If you have medibuntu installed skype is in the repos.
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Medibuntu

You will need that for other media stuff which are not included by default because of licensing issues as well.


If you don't like typing you can always copy / paste

[Oceanwatcher]

Re: Problems installing Skype

Yes, thank you. I did and both Skype and the Medibuntu repos are in now. Other weird things happening though, but I'll save that for other threads :-)

Again, thank you for the help with this. I am fine doing CLI stuff, but I really hope there will be other ways to do it in the future thinking of other people coming to Linux. I already had a couple of people that were turned off by too many quirks and installed WindowsXP instead while they would have been just fine with Linux if it had worked without too much fuzz.

This is also part of why I wanted the dual boot. I want to know exactly where the biggest problems are and live with them so I can find out if there are simple solutions. If not, well... I'm not big on campaigns. But I can always try forums and brainstorm.