How To Install Linux - UNIX - .Tar - GZ Tarball Files

How to install Linux / UNIX *.tar.
gz tarball files
1 de 23
http://www.cyberciti.biz/faq/install-tarballs/
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Linux FAQ / Howtos
How to install Linux / UNIX *.tar.gz tarball files

by nixCraft on June 18, 2007 195 comments last updated at June 18, 2007
Q. Im new to Linux. Over few days I found lots software distributed as .tar.gz file. How do
I install tar.gz files under Linux?
A. tar.gz also known as tarball, an archive format for electronic data and software. Most
Linux tarball contains a source code for software. If you are new to Linux I recommend
using apt-get, rpm and yum command to install all binary packages.
Tarballs are a group of files in one file. Tarball files have the extension .tar.gz, .tgz or
.tar.bz2. Most open source software use tarballs to distribute programs/source codes.
# 1: Uncompress tarball
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To uncompress them, execute the following command(s) depending on the extension:

$
$
$
$
tar
tar
tar
tar
zxf
zxf
jxf
jxf
file.tar.gz
file.tgz
file.tar.bz2
file.tbz2
Now change directory

$ ls
$ cd path-to-software/
# 2: Build and install software

Generally you need to type 3 commands as follows for building and compiling software:
# ./configure
# make
# make install
Where,
./configure will configure the software to ensure your system has the necessary functionality and libraries
to successfully compile the package
make will compile all the source files into executable binaries.
Finally, make install will install the binaries and any supporting files into the appropriate locations.
# 3: Read INSTALL / README file

Each tarball comes with installation and build instructions. Open INSTALL or README file for more
information:
$ vi INSTALL
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{ 195 comments read them below or add one }
Previous Comments
Dominic August 14, 2010 at 12:14 pm
This was so helpful to me when installing CUPS. Thanks so much.
Reply
Roman August 18, 2010 at 1:54 am
In order for you to extract tar.gz files, you must go into the terminal.
It will appear on the start menu as a Computer monitor with an almost black screen.
From there type in the commands instructed in this tutorial.
Reply
vinodhkumar August 19, 2010 at 3:54 pm
hie.
i need to extract the files in the root directory ..i mean to say in a folder in that directory so how can i do
it.
and plz do tel the procedure for the installing and uninstalling the files through CLI nt using the
sudo apt-get install XXXX
Reply
Sin August 20, 2010 at 11:17 pm
You can extract files using the tar command explained above at step # 1: Uncompress tarball, or zip
if its a zip file. To extract them into a folder that is only accessible to the root user, like the folder
called root you will need to become the root user, using the sudo command. Any command (in the
terminal) that follows the sudo command will be executed as if it was run by the root user. So to
extract the files to that folder you will type: sudo tar
If you dont feel comfortable using the command line to work with files you can open a file browser
as the root user by typing: sudo nautilus
(nautilus is the default file manager in Ubuntu, your OS might use a different one, just substitute the
name). In GNOME you can press Alt+F2 to bring up an entry box where you can type a program
name to be run. If you type gksu before the name of the program it will be run as root. So Alt+F2
and then gksu nautilus will open the nautilus file manager as the root user, then you can use that to
double click the compressed file and extract the contents to the root folder or a folder in it.
As for the rest of your question, I dont really understand what youre trying to say.
apt (eg. apt-get install) is the recommended method to install software packages on systems that use
apt (like Debian & Ubuntu). Other Linux systems like Slackware that has its own package manager
or those that use RPM (Redhat Package Manager) have different methods, but if you dont want to
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use apt and you dont want to use the synaptic package manager (has a graphical interface) or the
Ubuntu Software Centre (very simple and easy to use) if you are using Ubuntu then you can always
just download the .deb files and double click them or the tar.gz files (source code) and install them
using the method described on this page.
Did this answer your questions?
Reply
vinodhkumar August 21, 2010 at 9:30 am
thanks a lot !!!!!!!!! i wil try with it.
i gt a file with extensions .tar.bz2
and it should be extraceted in the home directory
i.e http://ftp.k-team.com/KorebotII/software/common/libkorebot-1.11-kb1.tar.bz2
and im in home directory and
vinodh@ubuntu:/home$ tar -xjf development_k2_v1.0.tar.bz2
but its showing errorfor and i need help abt this..can u do help me
@ im newbie to linux :D
Reply
Jonathan July 29, 2012 at 2:35 pm
same error. solved
tar.bz2 needs to use jxf instead of zxf
Reply
vinodhkumar August 21, 2010 at 9:43 am
im sorry fr the above post..the *.tar file is in desktopand im using the home directory
path sorry fr that.
Reply
Sin September 11, 2010 at 6:49 pm
Hey, Im sorry I didnt reply before, you can move the file to the home directory using
mv Desktop/filename ~/
or you can navigate to the Desktop and operate on it there using
cd Desktop
I tried to install the program myself and installation is fairly straight forward following these steps
except that you have to get the dependencies for it. When you run the configure script without them
it will fail and and tell you that it needs a certain a file installed to continue. You must download that
file and install it and try again. If it fails again you must again download and install that file and till
all of the dependencies are satisfied (there shouldnt be too many & you can install them exactly the
same way as any other tar.gz file) and when all are satisfied and teh ./configure completes
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successfully you can run the make and make install.

Good luck! :)
Reply
Chelsea August 23, 2010 at 7:56 am
I am only at primary school and I have been introduced to linux by my grand dad and I am getting better
but I have not managed to install a tarball yet
Reply
Kaine-Da-Nerd August 27, 2010 at 7:16 am
is there an easyer way coz i dont wanna do all this shit!
Reply
Cycron September 10, 2010 at 11:09 pm
Yes, there is an easier way, there is a nautilus script for it too. you can google it there should be
one on gnome-look.org.
If youre on KDE or a different DE I dont know what youd do.
Reply
stuttie September 9, 2010 at 12:27 pm
An open appeal to all linux gurus please stop hatching up more linux distributions as I think this will
eventuly cause linux to wither on the vine instead use your talent to improve and tweek a small number of
the excellent versions that already have traction and we will all benifite.
Reply
Sin September 26, 2010 at 5:21 pm
There different distros for different people and for different purposes, thats the beauty of it.
Reply
stuttie October 8, 2010 at 3:53 am
Yes and they all do basicly the same thing and ad to linux being rejected by so many good
people who would gain many benefits if they could get started with a more user friendly
versions
Reply
Sin October 8, 2010 at 7:06 pm
Well cutlery all does basically the same thing; you eat with it. But you wouldnt eat
your breakfast cereal with a fork or cut your steak with a spoon would you? Same goes
for Linux distros. You wouldnt use Alpine Linux (meant for firewalls and routing) for
an office/home computer, and you wouldnt recommend Slackware to a novice
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computer user or anyone whos not willing to fiddle and break stuff to learn.
The distribution thats become vastly popular recently is Ubuntu, check it out, I find it
quite easy to use, although if youre very used to Windowss interface you might want
to try Kubuntu, theyre both pretty good for Linux beginners, Id never used Linux
before when my Windows 7 hard disk committed suicide, the first Linux distribution I
tried was Ubuntu, at recommendation from a family member and I found it really easy
to use on the surface but full of very powerful features underneath once I was ready to
learn them! :)
Reply
stuttie October 19, 2010 at 11:55 am
Yes
And ice cream is still ice cream no matter how many flavours it comes in.
Reply
You dont use ice cream though, you eat it, so thats not a very good
analogy.
Reply
FakoMasT3r September 24, 2010 at 7:43 pm
how do i change from zip file to tar.gz file
Reply
Im sorry I could have sworn I replied to this already, guess I forget to click send, heres what I
wrote:
You would extract the contents of the zip and repack it into a tar.gz
Ill do an example, if you had a file called myshizzle.zip and you wanted it to be myshizzle.tar.gz
First make a folder to store the contents of the zip file:
mkdir myshizzle
Then extract the contents of the zip into the folder:
unzip myshizzle.zip -d myshizzle
-d is used to specify a folder to extract a file to using unzip.
Then you enter the folder:
cd myshizzle
Then tar + gzip the files:
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tar -czvf ../myshizzle.tar.gz *

The options used with tar are -c (create) -z (compress with gzip) -v (verbose; tell me what files are
being added) and -f (file). This is followed by the desired name for the archive. The ../ means that it
should be created in the parent directory. The * means that any file should be added.
then leave the folder:
cd ..
and remove it:
rm -r myshizzle
and now you have a file called myshizzle.tar.gz in the same folder as myshizzle.zip :)
This is work in the terminal, but all this can be done graphically if your distribution has a graphical
user interface. eg. in GNOME:
righ-click>Create Folder
double-click zip file
select everything in the file
drag it onto the New Folder
double-click the New Folder
select everything in the folder
right-click>compess
type a name
select tar.gz from the drop down box
click Create
Reply
Anonymous October 6, 2010 at 4:45 am
use sudo before them. they are packages which install stuff
Reply
Ok, Im not sure who youre saying that to but if youre saying it to the original poster, the # before the
command instead of $ already implies root privelages, so sudo is not needed.
Reply
Anonymous November 13, 2010 at 8:22 pm
Im just using alien or INSTALL-files. (or .deb files)
sudo apt-get install alien
Reply
Sin November 15, 2010 at 1:23 pm
Alien is for installing files not from your native package management system, eg. rpm if youre using
debs or deb if youre using rpm and so on
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Reply
lara November 28, 2010 at 6:28 pm
please,i need help to install iw.tar.bz2. i understood the above steps but i cant get started because i dont
even know how to open a terminal that starts with $ when i open a terminal it always starts with #.i need
simple instructions because im a beginner on linux and im lost
Reply
You can type it at a terminal that starts with #, its ok, its just not recommended that you use it
unless you are performing administrative tasks. What distribution of Linux are you using then I can
give you directions to the $ terminal for more general usage.
Reply
lara November 30, 2010 at 11:40 am
well,heres the story from the beginning. a friend gave me a cd with backtrack three on it and he didnt
even tell ma how to use so i downloaded a video from the net on how to use it to crack networks and when
i followed the steps i got:(error.download and install iw.tar.bz2 )so i downloaded the file but i dont know
how to install it and i googled to find a way but all the ways arent working,maybe im doing something
wrong.you asked me to tell you which distribution of linux im working on.well i dont know and i dont
know how to find out .i hope that u can help me .
Reply
When someone asks what Linux distro you have, the answer in your case is: Backtrack 3.
Ill install Backtrack and see if its any different but you should be able to follow these steps on your
terminal that ends with #:
*go to the directory (folder) of the file eg.:
cd Downloads
*extract the file, it is a tar archive compressed with bzip2 so use this:
tar -xvjf iw.tar.bz2
*enter the folder that was created when the files were extracted:
cd iw
*install it:
./configure
make
make install
Reply
Rocket September 14, 2012 at 1:36 am
Knoppix 7:
# ./congifure
bash no such command
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$ ./configure
no such command
# ./configure
# make
# make install
# ls
1 directory, 1 .tgz file, 1 tar.gz file 2 files extracted
Whats up with no such command? when I type help, sure enough there is no ./configure
command.
Ideas?
Reply
i was told to type the command uname -a and it gave me the following
Linux bt 2.6.21.5 #4 SMP Thu Apr 10 04:23:56 GMT 2008 i686 Intel(R) Pentium(R) D ual CPU T2310 @
1.46GHz GenuineIntel GNU/Linux
i dont know if this is helpful
Reply
thnx a lot for your help
i tried this method,
bt ~ # cd Downloads
-bash: cd: Downloads: No such file or directory
Reply
well the Downloads folder was an example, I dont know where the actual iw.tar.bz2 file is saved in,
basically just go to that folder. Type cd (without quotes) followed by the name of the folder. If it
isnt in one or youre already there then just skip that step. Does it make sense?
Reply
lara December 1, 2010 at 12:31 pm
bt ~ # tar -xvjf iw.tar.bz2
COPYING
info.c
interface.c
iw.c
iw.h
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Makefile
mpath.c
nl80211.h
station.c
util.c
bt ~ # cd iw
-bash: cd: iw: No such file or directory
bt ~ #
Reply
thats what i got when i tried the last time
Reply
Sin December 1, 2010 at 10:48 pm
I dont mean this in a bad way but ur a n00b, srsly!
What its saying is that the folder iw doesnt exist. Maybe no such folder was created when the files
were extracted.
Type:
ls
to list all the files in the current directory.
If you want you can share your email and I can help you more because by the looks of it, you really
need a lot of help.
Reply
i didnt claim that im an expert.i have been trying to work on linux for a week or two only and just for a
couple of hours everyday.heres my email (lara_mj111@hotmail.com)but if you are disturbed in anyway
by my emails please just ignore them
Reply
sure, I only want to help
Reply
James December 4, 2010 at 10:57 pm
Ive had enough Im afraid. The scorn that some people have on here, just because people ask reasonable
questions regarding how one opens a file is sickening.
First of all I quite like Linux. Its free, and there is a distro for ever pc. Apart from Mepis, DSL and
PCLinux I havent had any grief. Oh and the pure grief of getting my wireless card to function (got there
in the end). However opening .gz files and the like is pretty impossible for a relative newbie like me, and I
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dont have a year to learn. Im gonna keep trying, but I think a reinstall of my bootleg copy of XP is
looking increasingly likely. Im a busy guy and I dont have ten minutes to devote to open each and every
file that I save.
Shame really, if it wasnt for the complications of tar files I wouldnt even bother thinking about changing
back.
Reply
Sin December 5, 2010 at 9:50 am
Hi, Im not sure what youre talking about. I cant identify with the scorn or the complications
youre talking about. In my experience the Linux community has always been very nice and helpful
towards me since I was a new user. As for the complications have a read here
http://blogs.computerworld.com/15402/you_dont_need_to_know_linux_to_use_linuxit's very true. I
dont see how you can struggle to open a tar file, these days all you have to do is double click it
and its open. Drag the files to your desktop to extract its contents and thats it. Whats so
complicated about that? If youre used to Windows this should be no problem for you. It isnt really
necessary to use the command line, only useful.
Reply
Vibhas December 14, 2010 at 4:10 pm
Can anyone tell me how to clear off those dependencies easily without using internet ?
Plz !! I luv linux but i am still a lot new to it.
Thanks !!
Reply
What do you mean by clear off those dependencies?
Reply
Linux is Crap January 24, 2011 at 9:31 pm
Linux is crap. 2 hours to install an application. Windows, double click, job done.
No wonder no normal human being uses this operating system. Doing everything in command like its 1970
still! Come back Microsoft.
Reply
Stuttie January 25, 2011 at 1:39 pm
There are advantages to linux that windows do not have like security and convertibility and if your
patent eventually it gets much easier it is constantly being improved every year, it will only get
better and easier over time,
Reply
lara January 25, 2011 at 12:33 am
i have a question and i hope that someone can help me.i cracked a network of wep encryption and after i
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got the password i used it to connect my laptop to the network and it was connected but although the
signal was very strong i kept getting no internet access.no matter howmany times i try or how close i get to
it i got the same result: connected but no internet access .so if anyone can help me ill be thankful
Reply
Owen February 4, 2011 at 11:34 pm
How to get bluetooth to work on mandriva linux
Reply
Sin February 10, 2011 at 2:41 pm
You might get better responses if you asked in a bluetooth related thread but I suggest you try
installing bluez or blueman and reading the man pages or finding a HOWTO online for how to use
them.
Reply
Margaret February 14, 2011 at 1:29 am
I came across a word game for Linux that I wanted to try and I downloaded it. It was zipped OK, I can
handle that; theres an expand option at the top of the window when I open the folder. But then what?
Its a tar file. After it was expanded I found a text file with installation instructions, but they made no
sense to me. So I did a Google search for how to install .tar file in linux and found this page with more
incomprehensible instructions. Ive been using Linux for about 2 months now, and Im really beginning to
think about going to back to Windows where an installation process is simple. (Simple does Linux
even know what that word means?)
OK, Im done ventilating. Moving on to the next likely candidate in the search results
Reply
Sin February 14, 2011 at 7:12 am
Installing new programs in Linux is easier than in Windows when you do it the right way. Usually
you think of something you want, ask Linux to install it and the package manager finds and installs it
for you. Doesnt that sound much easier than searching the web, downloading an .exe, doubleclicking it, and following the next, next, next, install installation steps? I recommend you try
installing your word game the easy way, what Linux Distribution do you use?
Since youve already downloaded the tarball (thats what we call a compressed tar file) all you have
to do is follow the instructions at the top of this page. Youve already managed to
uncompress/extract the contents so you can skip the first step. Now you should open a terminal and
navigate to the folder you extracted the files to using the cd command, eg:
cd Downloads/wordgame
now type sudo -i and enter your password when prompted (this lets you perform administrative
tasks) and follow the steps at the top of this page under # 2: Build and install software
If it doesnt work there will be a file called README which will tell you if the installation steps are
different from normal. Good luck and if you have any questions feel free to ask!
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Reply
pam April 11, 2011 at 6:53 am
Rubbish nothing is easy with linux and some of the answers are worse than the problem
Reply
owen March 29, 2011 at 10:23 am
Help can anyone please tell me which driver works with.
creative sound blaster 5.1 vx I have tried so many about to give up
Regards
Reply
ragui April 4, 2011 at 9:10 am
Describe the unix commands you would use to install the package
package.tar.gz using the shell.
Reply
David April 16, 2011 at 4:43 pm
I have tried many different linuxes over the years. Red Hat, Fedora, Knoppix, Open Suse, Puppy. I have
spent many hours on each installing except Puppy which was easy and quick. Also many hours trying to
install and run programstar.gz, yum, rpm, etc. with very little success. So many types of instructions. They
make work for two or three steps and then fail. I like the idea of linux but hate this problem. Have had
many booksLinux Bible, Fedora for Dummies, checked out library books. Looked at many sites on the
internet. Here are just two examples of instructions neither of which worked:
To install the SLFonts onto your Linux computer, read and follow these steps:
(Note: You must have installed a TrueType font server on your Linux PC and know the path to the ttf font
directory in order to use these fonts.)
1. Select the SLFont you need and download it into a directory on your Linux PC.
2. Change to the directory where you downloaded it and issue the command tar -zxvf SLFonts.tar.gz.
3. Next issue the command mv *.ttf /path-to-ttf-fonts-dir/, inserting the correct path to where your .ttf
files reside.
4. Change to the directory where your fonts reside and issue the command ttmkfdir > fonts.scale (This
will recreate the fonts.scale file).
5. Issue the command mkfontdir (This will recreate the fonts.dir file).
6. Restart your TrueType font server and X server (or you can issue the command reboot to simply
reboot).
Compiling and Installing software from source
Some software is distributed in Source form. This means you download a file containing all the source
code for the application you want to install, unpack it, and compile it on your system. Compiling is the
process of turning the source code into an executable binary. The common myth and newbie assumption is
that this is very hard todo, or it is only for programmers. Wrong. It is a fairly straight forward process, and
you will find that a lot of software you install will need to be built from source.
Typically applications you must compile from source will come as a .tar.gz, .tar.bz2, or .zip file.
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For organisational purposes, I like to save my source zip file to /usr/local/src/, but this is totally up to you.
For the rest of this section we will assume you have downloaded your zip file to /usr/local/src/. If you do
not have a /usr/local/src directory, you can create it with the following mkdir (make directory)
command:
Code:
mkdir /usr/local/src/
So, we have our source package in /usr/local/src/.
Change to the /usr/local/src/ directory with the cd (change directory) command like so:
Code:
cd /usr/local/src/
Use the ls (list directory contents) command, to see the file is present:
Code:
ls
We now need to unzip the zipped file, this is done differently depending on the file extension.
for files ending in .tar.gz, use:
Code:
tar -zxvf
(replacing with the name of the file).
Reply
Milo May 12, 2011 at 3:49 am
A friend suggested I try linux because it is more secure than windows I loaded mandriva and then tried to
use the linux system, and also install which one would have to learn a computer sceience degree first to do
with any success.
So I say linux may be free but if you had to pay for an operating system that is as hard and complex to use
as linux you would ask for your money back next day.
Reply
Max June 16, 2011 at 12:54 pm
Firefox doesnt know how to open this address, because the protocol (apt) isnt associated with any
programme to load adobe flash player and this is all I get can anyone help me to work out how to associate
apt this is my first time with Kubuntu
Reply
last-zero June 24, 2011 at 9:20 am
Check this app, It installs the common packages of linux, its easy and very simply.
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Its growing and starting being developed, but its very good!!!
supports:
.tar.gz
.tar.bz2
.tar
.tgz
.deb
.rpm
.bin
Its name is EPI installer (EasyPackageInstaller)
google EPI installer or follow this link to download:
http://sourceforge.net/projects/epiinstaller/files
Recommended, if you prefer clicking than writing, download it!, sure it solves your problems
Reply
Meh July 6, 2011 at 10:32 am
Synaptic works wonders!
Reply
carlo August 8, 2011 at 1:59 pm
If just one of the main linux distributions would compose a simple standard methoid of installing software
the rest of the linux distributions would loose traction so fast and then linux would blume
Reply
nithin August 13, 2011 at 10:05 am
i will be thank full if send me the information about instaling .bin and .sh files in linux
i am using fedora in my system. i am not able to install the softwares in it.
please send me the steps,how to install .bin and .sh files .
thank you
Reply
Kipling September 20, 2011 at 10:22 am
Just a suggestion:
Step #3 must be step #2 and vice-versa. The content of a tarball may have another installation method
than make (i.e. copy the content to a system folder), and in those cases the step #2 is useless. This is
usually clearly expressed in the README or INSTALL file.
Reply
Ra. October 12, 2011 at 4:36 am
Ouch! That hurt. I concur with you, though.
Reply
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Sameer November 1, 2011 at 7:49 pm

How to install driver on linux?
Reply
janardhan November 11, 2011 at 1:11 pm
yum install kernel-devel Kernel-headers
Loaded plugins: aliases, changelog, downloadonly, kabi, presto, protect-packages, refresh-packagekit,
rhnplugin, security, tmprepo, verify, versionlock
Config Error: File contains no section headers.
file: file://///etc/yum.repos.d/rhel-beta.repo, line: 1
me=Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6Server Beta i386\n
But i have already installed plugins, what have to do
Reply
Tharindu November 15, 2011 at 9:49 am
When I try to install name.tar.gz file, it appears as follows;
harshitha@ubuntu:~$ tar zxf icta_sinhala_tamil_installer_ubuntu_0.2.tar.gz
tar (child): icta_sinhala_tamil_installer_ubuntu_0.2.tar.gz: Cannot open: No such file or directory
tar (child): Error is not recoverable: exiting now
tar: Child returned status 2
tar: Error is not recoverable: exiting now
harshitha@ubuntu:~$
So, I couldnt install that software. Im using Ubuntu 10.10 version.
Im new to Ubuntu.
Please help me!!
Thank you
Reply
MIke November 24, 2011 at 7:29 pm
Ok. Uncompress. Great. Easy.
Next instruction cd path-to-software
And I know that, how? I uncompress the file, no errors. Nothing in that directory where did it go? eh?
So whats the second step, really?
Reply
satish December 29, 2011 at 7:22 am
Im new to Linux. How do I install tar.gz2 compressed files under RHEL5?
Reply
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Borellianio January 15, 2012 at 3:48 am

I have been using Linux for the past six years. Of the seven billion people on this earth, how many do you
think give a shit?
Reply
Praveenraj March 2, 2012 at 1:06 am
root@azeem-Latitude-D630:/home/azeem# tar zxf file.tar.gz
tar (child): file.tar.gz: Cannot open: No such file or directory
tar (child): Error is not recoverable: exiting now
tar: Child returned status 2
tar: Error is not recoverable: exiting now
am getting these comments while installing so please help me out to install tar on my ubuntu
Reply
iwannalearnlinux March 12, 2012 at 6:28 am
Please am asking for help because i do not know how to am very new to linux heard about it but Ive
being confused every time i think about the word linux am not sure why but it just happen now am worried
wondering if something might be wrong with me mentally because every body else seems to understand
the questions i wanna ask are
how did you begin your first Linux experience how did you learn to attach files
What are the important things you had to figure out before going forward with linux
how did you learn the different commands like this one.. cd/linux/. am not sure what are the commands
but i hope you understand what am talking about example, yum.
how did you install and tar.gz file after installing Linux on then through ssh how did you make install, i
downloaded a folder that i wanna install from a company but it is in this format tar.gz how do i get it to
work on a linux install like archlinux or freedsb/ ubuntu. please assist with all the help you can if you dont
understand my writing please email me and ill be here to explain thank you for reading and i hope that i
will be welcomed with some answers best regards respect to everyone. IWANNALEARNLINUX
Reply
Steve April 9, 2012 at 1:05 pm
My advice is leave it be ! Troubles with Linux will began immediately after even first step is to make !
Linux tendency is to stopping user on every step and then unfortunately one is stuck for good ! There is no
easy Linux and sooner or later one is overwhelmed with tasks that can not solve or are not easy to solve !
If you want to learn Linux go and study it on University with people that know what they are doing !
Internet is full of crap and Linux Community what so ever is very arrogant look we can and you dont
showing off thinking maybe someone will employ me for being paid to showing off ! With win one is far
more better off despite crappy system ! Its ease of use that has make Win successful and MS know it !!! If
one want to use more secure system then i recommend MAC runs on PC hardware too and huge software
support not so in Linux ! Various no compatible distros non compatible packages (dependency hell) on
some is even impossible to install from binary that developer post as new software package missing app in
software respositories that leads to more than one distro to use and with that twice as much troubles or
even more ! Still no convinced go ahead and try for your self ! Lately some smack has posted Slitaz 4.0
without installer and then claimed hot to install it to hd ! People are going crazy these days or someone
think that we normal people are stupid or what ! Once bad experience with Linux one can think what
follows !!! To efficiently use Linux one must be at least programmer/developer and that can be achieved
25/11/2012 05:08 p.m.
18 de 23
only if one study it intensively ! And Linux is not standardized that means that one distro is to configure
much different that other and that leads to serious stops down !!! Normal people like me and others
common laic user in linux can not perform even basic os operation on some distros and as that it is useless
as we do not have time to making master degree on it as we must work for living ! Seems to me that
developer of linux do not understand that ! They have learned commnad prompt and they force command
prompt ! Although today were possible to install software with few mouse cliks but lacking standarized
installer this one is mission impossible ! I beet that i make PhD in FluidMehanic and HeatTransfer sooner
as this would be possible in Linux !!!
Reply
Morris May 14, 2012 at 4:31 am
I came here for the knowledge but stayed for the comments LOL. Thanks guys
Reply
steve May 17, 2012 at 2:39 pm
Ok i will go deeply on it ! For all newbies in Linux and laic users that have plenty time to spare and
nerves too ! Basic steps to be done in Linux in general and in very short term ! No need being
offensive i have only pointed to weaknesses in Linux and what may stop you in using it !
1st what distro one may use different packages for different distro to install do the job and read
manual of OS for basics may be time intensive and then ask reasonable question
2nd procedure for install packaged are also distro dependable sometimes developers even changes
procedure calls for installing packages on upgrade or even new release of same distro that makes
things confusing for newbie which is trying out more than one different distro and want to install the
same software on it
3rd for particular/similar distros one may have software respository compatible packages what
that means it means that package.deb is mean to be installed on debian based linux distros.
package.rpm for fedora red hat based linux distros and similar and so on. There are numerous linux
distros. Theoretically any developed Linux distro can have its own software respository and package
manager Slitaz have package.tazpkg if one desire to instal app that is not in its own respository
or can not be found it must convert it from other existed packages or even from binary
package.deb or supported and so on (dependency hell google it) Debian has largest software
respository well described, but even as such do not have the latest releases published software app
due the all linux software releases are programmed from the source/binary and published on various
web sites as binarry packages package.bin that can not be so installed in various linux distros ! Not
for newbie and not for common laic user ! The only distro i know that have support for installing
such packages from binary is Sabayon Linux based on Gentoo Linux and uses packages named
tarballs. If one desires to install some eksotic new software releases have little choices to choose
from ! Some of distros have support for gui package managers like synaptic and some others but this
is far from being useful for major distro releases only successfully if implemented by developer in
os may work ! I have tried to install such gui package manager in SaxenOS but ended up in
crippled system so i do not install it on distro that has none may ending up in disaster! Thats i mean
not standarized installers ! It would be far more better to implement gui installer for binary packages
this way no conversions needed and installing on all distros the same package just like in win are exe
and msi executable ! But as Linux develops in various and different ways and no real standard this
will newer happen ! The best way to use linux is to begin to use some easy distros Like Ubuntu and
derivates. I have make may 1st experince with Mandrake today Mandrriva Linux and Slackware
Linux but im no fan of over sized OSses so i use some tiny distros for being fast and only installed
what i rely use ! I strongly suggest that one may install and test various Linux distros under
VirtualBox so one can explore distro to see if it can manage from install configuration and
25/11/2012 05:08 p.m.
19 de 23
customization for basic tasks that are needed to perform such as display resolution file manger
where is what stored and desired software packages to install before ruins the native installed system
! One must achieve basic practical use of OS if stopped here, there will be nothing but troubles,
drop downs and stops ! That i have mean with stopping user on every step ! There is no easy way to
learn Linux due to its how its build and mean to use ! Sooner or later one must go to command line
! And there are so manz different distros with different catchs and some are missing some features
and one is not pointed to it ! So only realy experience is needed to se if particular distro suits one
needs or not !
Reply
justzilla June 3, 2012 at 1:07 pm
DUde this did not help at all.
Reply
No June 6, 2012 at 5:25 am
Still dont fucking understand. Fuck Linux.
Reply
owen October 19, 2012 at 12:44 pm
two many distros no standard soft ware instalation need to spend lot of time learning how to install
programe then find it wont work on diferent distro dont love windows but linux is a lot of
frustration.
Reply
cathode July 2, 2012 at 6:47 pm
I have been using xp, ubuntu, win7 and suse 12 for awhile now. I have had problems with all of them to
one degree or another. It may be said that in general windows is easier to use out of the box. Xp just
worked with little problem. Not everyone is that fortunate i know. Setting up win7 for home networking
has been a problem. It still doesnt work that well but i dont need it that often so its not a big deal.Other
wise win7 ran pretty much out of the box. I really only use the network occasionally. I also have fewer
computers so the network thing is less of an issue.
Networking between computers is not that easy in linux if you want to use Samba,
I had it working at one time but crashed a computer and could not get the etc\config file edited to work
again. i realize i have spent a bit of time with networking but it has been a hobby of mine for awhile now.
That said i was like a lot of people. Windows was introduced at work 15-20 years ago and Dos 6.22 and
win 3.1 were all new. A lot of people had classes at work on how to use windows, No charge since the
company paid for classes. We have to learn linux on our own if we want to know anything about it.
OK about linux distros.
I dont like libre office that came with suse 12. is not as intuitive to me as was Open Office. More to the
point i use the word processor and not much else. Truth is Ive used ms word more so its just more
familiar, hence easier . But i have used open office in ubuntu enough that i am kinda used to it so its ok
for some things. Id use ms word for resumes and more labor intensive jobs cause im a big chicken and
dont want to loose my work by being unfamiliar with the program im using. i just got ms office 2010.
tried to use ms word like always. Just open and paste what i need and save. Not so fast. They changed
stuff and its not as simple. It may be no big thing but is different enough it took extra time just to save a
simple word doc.
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20 de 23
Even Open Office is not as intuitive as MS Word was. But intuitive can be a common sense thing or maybe
just a habit that we have formed and are now less conscience of.
I am not a gamer so that much I cant speak to. I dont use Cad/cam or do high end graphics. Nor do i do
any web site or software development. I mainly use a computer for communication, writing and research
on various articles and topics about current events.
The main things i like about linux are that Im not dependent on M.S.for a resolution to a problem. i am
also less confined to what M.S. wants to give me and that it.
Case in point. I dont like evolution e-mail. I prefer Thunderbird. So i removed evolution and installed
Thunderbird. Took all of about 10 minuets. Longer to do the address books. But thats with any of them.
This applies to Firefox only. Want to change the way it behaves?
Type about:config in the address bar and see all the changes you can make to the way Firefox operates. I
dont know if I.E. will let you do that or not. I.E. is proprietary so maybe not. Its just so much more open
in what you can do with it, Windows is more take what you get. I should mention that linux is resistant
to a LOT of viruses.
I have run a linux machine barefoot on the net for months with no problem. No antivirus. I do have an
antivirus running now because an ounce of prevention is worth pounds of cure. But in the past i have
never had a problem But my surfing is restricted to pretty much known safe sites, although i use a LOT of
sites for research. I do get e-mails tho. I DO have firewalls. But Linux needs permissions for most
everything by default anyway. I know what i want on my machines and any requests for a root user access
are denied right away. i use linux for net surfing and e-mail for these reasons.
Its just a matter of spending enough time with a new os to get used to it.
I have hopes that i will be MS free in the future. It all depends on how willing i am to apply myself. Its
either time or money.
i would suggest finding a LUG. Linux Users Group. Most larger cities have one or more. It does take some
intestinal fortitude to walk in cold with out knowing anyone. But its worth it and ive found that most
people will respond to an honest desire for knowledge. Thats been my experience.
Reply
sanjay August 10, 2012 at 10:19 am
very good
Reply
'Sup Bro September 17, 2012 at 7:15 pm
When I try to use ./configure, this happens:
checking for a BSD-compatible install /usr/bin/install -c
checking whether build environment is sane yes
checking for a thread-safe mkdir -p /bin/mkdir -p
checking for gawk gawk
checking whether make sets $(MAKE) yes
checking whether make supports nested variables yes
checking for style of include used by make GNU
checking for gcc no
checking for cc no
checking for cl.exe no
configure: error: in `/home/ted/Downloads/geany-1.22:
configure: error: no acceptable C compiler found in $PATH
See `config.log for more details
25/11/2012 05:08 p.m.
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What do?
Reply
Charlie Snow October 17, 2012 at 11:30 pm
I ve read most if not all these entries (post) by you all and it was very, very funny all of it specialy the
harddrive that killed it self , I; was lol for so,so long, thank you all.
Now about Linux (I;m kinda new to it myself) and I hate to learn but I let them (yes them), let them make
all the distros they want, what we (yes we) should do is but wait (who are we), (we are not windows
haters), but we will/ dont know how, but we will embrace linux, mainly cuz ubuntu with unity (yes with
unity) is easy to use, Mint (hate the gray color) is even more like windows and what about Zorin. OK pick
a fav, i recomend mint with mate, i choose ubuntu with the dvd codecs but for newbies mint is best zorin
not as good as mint, only use the sudo apt-get install on terminal and the software center for most of your
software and also keep windows so you have to use when linux gets boring but never let it go, you must
force yourself to use it just dont try finding the best one. I m telling you its mint maya with mate never,
never use KDE it;s only for very diehard linux users and thats ok 2 but we non windows hateders must
stick to gnome and such. I can bearly spell my native language must less english, so sorry for the spelling.
I hate tarballs but as luck would have it I dont think I need it; what we really need a way to put all our
linux software in one cd so we can install and reinstall without keys, we all know thats what we deslike
about MS and paying and paying and paying, so linux its for me and just keep one or two distros cuz I
play with everything. What I play in windows now I play with it on linux I play with music and videos
and writing and photos all in linux, plus many things I do on the web itself so I know that I don need
windows to get on the net right so there my two cents
Reply
Pankaj October 18, 2012 at 11:12 am
After #make install
Nothing is happening :(
Reply
Patrick Burwell October 26, 2012 at 5:32 pm
When i run make or make install as root I get this;
make: *** No rule to make target `install. Stop.
Reply
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How to install Linux / UNIX *.tar.gz tarball files

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How to install Linux / UNIX *.tar.gz tarball files

To uncompress them, execute the following command(s) depending on the extension:

Now change directory

# 2: Build and install software

# 3: Read INSTALL / README file

25/11/2012 05:08 p.m.

How to install Linux / UNIX *.tar.gz tarball files

My 10 UNIX Command Line Mistakes

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How to install Linux / UNIX *.tar.gz tarball files

25/11/2012 05:08 p.m.

How to install Linux / UNIX *.tar.gz tarball files

successfully you can run the make and make install.

25/11/2012 05:08 p.m.

How to install Linux / UNIX *.tar.gz tarball files

25/11/2012 05:08 p.m.

How to install Linux / UNIX *.tar.gz tarball files

tar -czvf ../myshizzle.tar.gz *

25/11/2012 05:08 p.m.

How to install Linux / UNIX *.tar.gz tarball files

25/11/2012 05:08 p.m.

How to install Linux / UNIX *.tar.gz tarball files

25/11/2012 05:08 p.m.

How to install Linux / UNIX *.tar.gz tarball files

25/11/2012 05:08 p.m.

How to install Linux / UNIX *.tar.gz tarball files

25/11/2012 05:08 p.m.

How to install Linux / UNIX *.tar.gz tarball files

25/11/2012 05:08 p.m.

How to install Linux / UNIX *.tar.gz tarball files

25/11/2012 05:08 p.m.

How to install Linux / UNIX *.tar.gz tarball files

25/11/2012 05:08 p.m.

How to install Linux / UNIX *.tar.gz tarball files

25/11/2012 05:08 p.m.

How to install Linux / UNIX *.tar.gz tarball files

Sameer November 1, 2011 at 7:49 pm

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How to install Linux / UNIX *.tar.gz tarball files

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How to install Linux / UNIX *.tar.gz tarball files

25/11/2012 05:08 p.m.

How to install Linux / UNIX *.tar.gz tarball files

25/11/2012 05:08 p.m.

How to install Linux / UNIX *.tar.gz tarball files

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How to install Linux / UNIX *.tar.gz tarball files

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How to install Linux / UNIX *.tar.gz tarball files

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How to install Linux / UNIX *.tar.gz tarball files