Installing tar.bz2 files

[arochester]

Re: Installing tar.bz2 files

I am interested to know why you want to install Pidgin, an instant messenger, on a computer that has no internet connection. How will it work?

If you have read the links which have already been given to you e.g. How to install ANYTHING in Ubuntu! you should already know how to install from .tar

You might also check out AptOnCD (http://aptoncd.sourceforge.net/) and Keryx (http://keryxproject.org/)

[tnorris]

Re: Installing tar.bz2 files

You really are heading for trouble and appear determined to get there.

Do one thing first: BACKUP your important files to TWO different media (CDROM, USB, DVD, second HD, etc...) BEFORE you start trying to unzip tar files and compiling or moving binaries.

Just remember, with your experience your chances of failure are close to 100%, and once you add files from outside the repository it will be very difficult to impossible to support you because your system will be in an unknown state if things "go south".

I was thinking the exact same thing...

If you aren't either a developer or an experienced Linux user, attempting to install from source (i.e. tar.bz) is going to be a long and arduous task. You are going to be stuck in "dependency hell" for a long time and it'll be a miracle, if you ever get the packages to build without error, that they actually work.

My suggestion would be until you have more experience stick with installing .debs (thru apt-get) and then later once you understand how linux works, try building from source. I've been using Linux for 10 years and I rarely build from source because it's just not worth the headache.

[ukchucktown]

Re: Installing tar.bz2 files

I don't know if I really agree that beginners can't learn to install software from source. Is it a good idea, probably not, but dependencies can be resolved fairly easily by using apt-get build-dep <package> to install dependencies. Nobody even told the poor guy about "apt-get build-dep vlc" to get the dependencies. I say let's empower these guys not hide the more powerful features of the operating system. Will they make mistakes and hose their systems? Yes, that's a possibility, so BEWARE before embarking on software installation from source code. I still say we show them how to do it if they want to do it.

Cheers, UK

[anup807]

Re: Installing tar.bz2 files

hmmm.... well ok.. thanks a lot....that was useful and i'll keep that in mind....

[The Liquidator]

Re: Installing tar.bz2 files

You might like to take a look at apt on cd .

I haven't used it myself but it would seem to be designed to do what you want to achieve.

http://aptoncd.sourceforge.net/

[GreyGeek]

Re: Installing tar.bz2 files

I don't know if I really agree that beginners can't learn to install software from source. ..... I say let's empower these guys not hide the more powerful features of the operating system. ....I still say we show them how to do it if they want to do it.

Are you going to be available 24/7 to help him recover when, not if, he begans drowning?


I've taught programming at both the HS and college level, for a combined total of 18 years, and the surest recipe for drowning a newbie is to toss him into the deep end without proper training in how to swim.

The formula for compiling a tar is easy:

• unzip tar into a directory and cd into that directory
• read the "howto" or "install" or "readme" or what ever to see if anything special is required, like being sure other libraries or applications are pre-installed, and that the versions present are the versions required.
• install any necessary prerequisits
• ./configure
• make
• sudo make install
  DO NOT erase the directory because you may want to UNINSTALL the app later on.
• sudo make uninstall

If the program author wasn't up to his game he may not have included an uninstall syntax in his Makefile. Then you have to read the "install" section of the Makefile to see what has been installed and, as root, individually uninstall each file.

but recovery when it fails, which will be more than 50% of the time, is difficult if not impossible for the untrained.

An immediate problem occurs when the code expects a particular version of the gcc compiler. Linux is undergoing a compiler version change and some apps require the old version and some the new. Many users do NOT have a compiler installed on their box. Their first problem is to figure out which compiler to install.

Sometimes the app install routine overwrites existing libraries with previous or later versions, rendering some apps unusable because they depended on the version of the library that was installed when those app were installed. Sometimes the author of the program has an environment with dynamic libraries which he did not reference or include in his package, but on which his application depends, and he does not realize this. So, if someone with a different environment tries to compile his package they fail. This is a common problem for apps built by a newbie programmer, or for niche apps with few users, so the bugs haven't been reported back as often as a high usage app's bugs would be.

There is much more to say on this topic, but I hope you get the idea. The use of the APT tools, combined with the repository of over 27,000 packages, is a God send, even to programmers.

About the ONLY tar package I would install is one which ONLY requires that it be unzipped into a subdirectory of the user's home account, and can be run from there either from a konsole or by creating an addition in the menu. SecondLife is such a program.

The ONLY other non repository programs I would install are those from HIGHLY trusted sources that release packed binaries which automatically unpack and install, like GoogleEarth, X-Plane, etc. And then ONLY if they are NOT in the repository.

[13thSlayer]

Re: Installing tar.bz2 files

i plannin to install it on another comp which doesnt have a net connection..
so to install vlc and pidgen i want to get an idea as to how to install it through tar.bz2 files.

I will have to dissapoint you, this is impossible. Those have the source code meaning that they are for programmers, those who wish, uh, like, modify somithing in the program. If you are willing to install something on a offline computer, downloading from here is your best bet.

[GreyGeek]

Re: Installing tar.bz2 files

i plannin to install it on another comp which doesnt have a net connection..
so to install vlc and pidgen i want to get an idea as to how to install it through tar.bz2 files.

I will have to dissapoint you, this is impossible. Those have the source code meaning that they are for programmers, those who wish, uh, like, modify somithing in the program. If you are willing to install something on a offline computer, downloading from here is your best bet.

Even IF you were to download the deb package for those two files and copy them to a USB stick to transfer them to an offline computer, when you used "dpkg -i" to install them they will probably fail because they expect to pull along dependencies, which you won't have on that USB stick, and since you won't have an internet connection to the repository they will fail to install.