I did it!
I am online surfing with Linux!
This is a monumental leap for me, personally.
I would like to thank all the little people...
OK
I have two questions firstoff...

1) How do I unpack and install tar files
I read the FAQ on this but I forgot and cannot find it again.

2) What is the trick to getting Half Life and Quake3 to run on Linux.
I have seen lots of Linux servers but never a Linux compatable version in stores.
Do I use my Winblows compatable version of Half life to install on Linux? yes/no?
How?

If you answer this post in a easy to read format you will recieve a blessing...

>I did it!
>I am online surfing with Linux!

Congrats

>1) How do I unpack and install tar files
>I read the FAQ on this but I forgot and cannot find it
>again.

Tarball packages for Linux come most commonly with 3 extensions:

.gz
gzip compressed file. This is the most common. Uncompress it like this: gzip -d package.tar.gz

.bz2
bzip2 compressed file. Generally better compression ration. Uncompress it like this: bzip2 -d package.tar.bz2

.Z
created with the Unix compress utility. You don't see this to often. Uncompress it like this: uncompress package.tar.Z

Now, you'll have a file like package.tar
At this point I often like to list the contents of the file:

tar -tvf package.tar

Make sure the filenames listed start with a directory (and that it's not the same as a directory you already have).
Sometimes people don't bother tarring up the package inside a directory, so it ends up spewing dozens of files & directories all over your working area.

Now that you're sure it will unpack nicely (or you've created a new working directory), untar the file:

tar -xvf package.tar

Now you can cd to the new directory it created. Look for files called README & INSTALL. These will cover the specific installation instructions. In general, it will go something like this:

./configure
make
make install

Hope this helps




In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice.
In practice, there is.<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by ergeorge on 05/04/01 04:39 PM.</EM></FONT></P>

Very helpful and informative.
Thank you.

My first attemp to use your instuctions has failed me.
I downloaded this file and it was saved into root.
/root/PGPcmdln_6.5.8.Lnx_FW.tar.gz

So I have tried to uncompress it useing this command.
gzip -dPGPcmdln_6.5.8.Lnx_FW.tar.gz

This is an error and is incorrect.
What did I do wrong?


<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by aliasQ on 05/04/01 04:41 PM.</EM></FONT></P>

> So I have tried to uncompress it useing this command.
> gzip -dPGPcmdln_6.5.8.Lnx_FW.tar.gz
--------^
You forgot to put a space in!

BTW, there is an easier way to handle bzip2'ed and gzip'ed tar files:

for a 'file.tar.gz' use:

tar -zxvf file.tar.gz

Most modern distributions have a tar that is patched to more easily handle bzip2 compression. So, for 'file.tar.bz2' use:

tar -yxvf file.tar.bz2

somtimes instead, it's not y, but I for bz2, like this:

tar -Ixvf file.tar.bz2

Also BTW, usually there are symlinks, or binaries present for both gzip and bzip2 for more easily uncompressing.

So, for 'file.gz' you might try:

gunzip file.gz

and for 'file.bz2' you might try:

bunzip2 file.bz2

HTH,

~flake


--
U want to really *know* Linux?
<A HREF="http://www.linuxfromscratch.org/" target="_new">http://www.linuxfromscratch.org/</A>

OK
I have taken the first step
I uncompressed and now I have four files in addition to the original.
PGPcmdln_6.5.8.Lnx_FW.tar.gz (same as the original)
PGPcmdln_6.5.8.Lnx_FW.tar.gz.sig
WhatsNew.htm
WhatsNew.txt

I tried the next step
tar -xvf PGPcmdln_6.5.8.Lnx_FW.tar

Umm, what did I do wrong now?

Congrats! Welcome to the family!

Now on to the other things...what distro are you using precisely? .tar.gz, .tgz, .tar.Z, and .tar.bz2 files are usually source code packages (with slackware, .tgz files are actually precompiled software packages--but that's just slackware). "Installing" them usually involves decompressing them (as described by others before I got here) and then <i>compiling</i> them. Compiling software is rather involved and riddled with problems; I wouldn't recommend it for a beginner. It will be much easier if you could find a place to get precompiled software for your distribution. The distribution's web site is a good place to start...

Kelledin

bash-2.04$ kill -9 1
init: Just what do you think you're doing, Dave?

Hi!

I am glad to be in the Linux community now.
I installed Mandrake 7.2
I did a minimum install because I heard this was best for security perposes.
It is going to be a long weekend for me.
I simply must learn how to install/run programs in Linux asap.
So I can beat my chest and call myself a real man.
I could try installing other programs first.
I downloaded a SSH browser from packetstorm too, which I haven't tried to open yet.
I was just trying to get PGP installed first.
I am open to suggestions.

Mandrake 8.0 is out now. You might 'upgrade'.

Okay, first of all, I'd like to offer a tip. Don't log in as root. You should create a user and work as that user, and then if you have to be root for a certain command, just type:
su
and then enter your root password.

This will guard against mistakes such as meaning to type:

rm -rf /home/user/junk/

and accidentally hitting

rm -rf /

which you won't be able to do as a regular user.

Anyways, getting back to your question, I think you may have hit something wrong there. Try doing exactly this:

Type this:

1.
gzip -d PGPcmdln_6.5.8.Lnx_FW.tar.gz

2.
ls
(this will show what is in the directory now. you should see PGPcmdln_6.5.8.Lnx_FW.tar)

3.
tar -xvf PGPcmdln_6.5.8.Lnx_FW.tar

4.
ls
(you should now see a directory called PGPcmdln_6.5.8.Lnx_FW)

5.
cd PGPcmdln_6.5.8.Lnx_FW

6.
ls
(this will show what you downloaded, there may be a configure.sh script. If so, then type this)

7.
./configure

8.
make

9.
make install

And you should be ready to go :^)

Another computer wanted. Donations accepted. :^)