Installing software on a running system, either as binaries or from source
44
votes
7answers
7k views
What is the Linux equivalent to C:\Program Files?
I understand that in Windows as well as Linux and Unix, a program|application|software can be installed in any directory. Also if packages are installed using the distribution's packaging system, ...
43
votes
16answers
3k views
Where should I put software I compile myself?
I need to compile some software on my Fedora machine. Where's the best place to put it so not to interfere with the packaged software?
37
votes
4answers
2k views
How do I know where to put things in linux?
Installing something in windows takes a click of a button. But every time I try to install something in linux, which is not found in APT, I get so confused.
You download a zipped folder, then what? ...
16
votes
4answers
641 views
Why updating a running Linux system is not problematic?
It's years I use Linux systems on a daily basis, and I never had major problems by updating a system when it was running, but I still wonder why this is possibile.
Let me make an example.
Suppose a ...
13
votes
5answers
592 views
How to compile and install programs from source
This is an issue that really limits my enjoyment of Linux. If the application isn't on a repository or if it doesn't have an installer script, then I really struggle where and how to install an ...
11
votes
5answers
3k views
Using different versions of Python
Background:
Since I develop python programs that must run on different python versions, I have installed different versions of python on my computer.
I am using FC 13 so it came with python 2.6 ...
10
votes
2answers
14k views
How to find the installation path for a software under linux?
Under linux, I launch a software by typing, e.g., fluidplot. How can I find the installation path for this software?
8
votes
10answers
603 views
Where can I find Software for Unix/Linux that does X?
I'm looking for a program that does X and runs on unix (or at least on my particular unix system). Where can I look? Is there a more efficient way than a generic web search?
7
votes
4answers
338 views
What installer types should commercial software use to support Linux?
The source code in not open or free, so compilation at installation is not an option. So far I have seen developers that:
provide a tar.gz file and it is up to user to uncompress in suitable ...
7
votes
4answers
1k views
How to install software on Red Hat?
What's the simplest way to download/install software on Red Hat Linux (from bash command line)?
6
votes
3answers
3k views
How can I install perldoc on Ubuntu?
Ubuntu 10.10 comes with Perl 5.10.1 pre-installed, but strangely enough perldoc isn't part of the package.
$ perldoc
You need to install the perl-doc package to use this program.
How can I make ...
6
votes
3answers
219 views
How to create a list of installed packages for easy/automatic reinstall after disk is formatted
I'll change my system from 32 bits to 64 bits, and will be the same I had before, Debian Squeeze, but I do not want to lose the programs I installed before, because I do not remember the name of them ...
6
votes
3answers
5k views
Installing a .deb package in home directory
Is it possible to install a .deb package completely under my home directory at debian?
6
votes
1answer
3k views
Install g++ when having gcc (C only) — RH6
I have a RedHat 6 machine, which came with gcc but without g++.
The gcc version is 4.4.4 20100726 (this is what I got from gcc --version).
How can I get g++ working? Currently, the shell just returns ...
6
votes
2answers
427 views
How to get files downloaded by yum?
I install a software package on Fedora from the terminal using the command like
# yum install live-usb-creator
Now at first it downloads some of the packages from online repository and then ...
6
votes
2answers
577 views
Loading 3rd-Party Drivers before Fedora 14 Installation
My server is equipped with a megaraid controller that cannot be identified by most linux installer. I have to load it's driver before installation can proceed. I know how to do it with CentOS that ...
6
votes
1answer
2k views
Fritz WLAN USB stick - Xlib/Xfree86 dev packages for installing Wine
I have installed Ubuntu 10.4 and want to install the driver for my Fritz WLAN USB stick according to http://wiki.ubuntuusers.de/fritz!wlan_usb_stick (German site... sorry). Now I am trying to install ...
6
votes
3answers
243 views
How can I build and install PL/R as a non-privileged user?
There is a postgres instance, and I have the ability to build my own instance.
Using these instructions I ran:
USE_PGXS=1 make
which worked but then
USE_PGXS=1 make install
did not, with this ...
5
votes
3answers
364 views
Can I have my own version control system?
In the linux/unix machine I am using, I am just a normal user. However, I want a version control system to manage my files to prevent accidental delete/rename/lost/modification. Obviously I don't have ...
5
votes
3answers
855 views
How to install Mono in AIX?
I don't have root access to an AIX 5.2 machine and want to run Mono programs in it.
5
votes
3answers
180 views
Effect of compiling from source on already installed applications
I use Ubuntu 12.04. Say I have installed package x from the repository (with all its dependencies) at version 1.7 but I need some functionality that is only available in version 1.8, so I download the ...
5
votes
4answers
914 views
Safely uninstall a package in Gentoo
I wanted to uninstall a specific package in Gentoo and browsed through the emerge man page. I found the --unmerge option:
WARNING: This action can remove important packages! Removes all
...
5
votes
2answers
87 views
Emacs on OpenBSD for DEC VAX?
I have managed to install OpenBSD 5.2 on my DEC VaxStation 4000 Model 90 but to my surprise have not found a binary for Emacs (any version) for the VAX architecture. As best as I can tell I do not see ...
5
votes
5answers
357 views
Why is it recommended to create a group and user for some applications?
Most of the time, when installing a program from source it is recommended to create a new user and a new group and give /usr/local/<myapp> the recently created user and group ownership.
Why is ...
5
votes
2answers
143 views
Where should I place a downloaded tarball?
I have downloaded the ChromePlus tarball and extracted it to my home directory. The extracted folder contains an executable that I can double-click to launch ChromePlus. So I assume I do not need to ...
5
votes
3answers
349 views
How to keep track of installed software
Every now and then I'm in need of updating a software running on one of our testservers at work (mostly Debian). What really confuses me almost every time is the fact that there is not just one way to ...
5
votes
3answers
722 views
Is there a Homebrew-equivalent for limited access user accounts in Linux?
I have a few Linux servers that lack necessary sudo or root permissions, and I'm feeling kind of stuck with my options:
hand-compile packages to a ~/local/ folder or some equivalent
work with ...
5
votes
1answer
332 views
Firefox circular-dependency hell on Linux Mint 13
Having difficulty re-installing Firefox, after an installation to resolve places.sqlite issues. It appears that I'm trapped in circular dependency hell.
Need to resolve firefox dependency hell to ...
5
votes
1answer
126 views
Are there any CheckInstall side effects or should I use it every time?
I'm using Ubuntu at work and Slackware at home.
Today at work I have downloaded some suspicious program from our company repository that was supposed to automate some repetitive tasks. I installed ...
5
votes
1answer
1k views
How do I update IcedTea?
I've only been using Linux for about a month. I'm running Mint 13. I'm trying to use www.goproblems.com but it tells me that my IcedTea is out of date. I hoped there was a package but I can't find ...
4
votes
7answers
9k views
How to install .tar.bz and .tar.bz2 packages?
I would like to know how to install .tar.bz and .tar.bz2 packages on Debian, please give me a complete explanation.
4
votes
5answers
207 views
Which is better for installed applications: /usr/bin or user's home directory?
It's not entirely clear to me whether it would be better to install a GUI application in /usr/bin or my home directory. I've read through this article and this one, but it doesn't really talk about ...
4
votes
1answer
561 views
Where should a local executable be placed?
I have an executable for the perforce version control client (p4). I can't place it in /opt/local because I don't have root privileges. Is there a standard location where it needs to be placed under ...
4
votes
2answers
3k views
How to install program locally without sudo privileges?
Assume I have ssh access to some Ubuntu server as user and I need some not system tools to be installed for convenience (mc, rtorrent, mcedit). I do not want to bother admins for these small programs. ...
4
votes
1answer
527 views
Automate installation of VirtualBox Guest Additions via command-line
How can I install VirtualBox Guest Additions from a Bash script, in a unattended way?
Whenever I run apt-get -y install dkms virtualbox-guest-dkms from the terminal I'm presented with a interactive ...
4
votes
2answers
421 views
Can I make pacman aware of packages installed manually?
Due to my setup I cannot make use of pacman to actually install packages, however if I install a package from the Arch repositories manually by downloading and extracting it, eg:
wget ...
4
votes
2answers
206 views
Any other distro offer like Ubuntu Software Centre?
I want to know does any other linux disto offer anything close to Ubuntu Software Centre? Some of the features I like about it is A) Sandboxing B) Ability to search any of the libs/apps with ...
4
votes
1answer
1k views
Linux Mint won't run virtualbox
I installed Linux Mint 11 Katya with Virtualbox 4.1 once and all was running fine. Then I reinstalled system, and I have a lot of software installed too (including Wine). But when I went through the ...
3
votes
4answers
163 views
Non-Ebuild Programs on Gentoo
I like the "compile it yourself" philosophy that Gentoo runs on, but how is the support for non-ebuild programs? That might just mean binaries, but also programs in general that were not acquired ...
3
votes
5answers
335 views
How do idiomatic Unix programs detect what prefix they are installed under?
If I install a binary with non-standard prefix, e.g. /opt/bin/foo, which needs some static files from /opt/share/foo, how does it find them? Using back references relative to the executable ...
3
votes
3answers
214 views
What is the preferred way to install new versions of software?
I have installed Ubuntu Server 10.10 and now I want to install some software like PostgreSQL, Nginx and PHP. But what is the preferred way to get the latest stable version of the software?
E.g I ...
3
votes
4answers
109 views
What is the prefered way of updating all software in a Fedora installation?
When I install some system, I usually look for a bulk update method, one that will update my recently-installed software.
For example, in Debian, that would be changing the sources.list to point to ...
3
votes
4answers
1k views
Allow non-admin users to install packages via apt or rpm?
Is it possible to allow non-root users to install packages system-wide using apt or rpm?
The place where I work currently has an out of date setup on the linux boxes, and admins are sick of having to ...
3
votes
5answers
6k views
Where is Netbeans installed on Ubuntu?
I installed Netbeans on my Ubuntu 11.10 machine. I used the combined method, so Netbeans and JDK are installed from a single file. However, now that it's installed I can't figure out how to start ...
3
votes
2answers
99 views
Where is a good place to put applications that come pre-compiled?
Certain applications like Blender and Eclipse come precompiled in a tarball. Usually I put the directories in my home folder and access them from the command line. Is there a better place to put them ...
3
votes
2answers
6k views
Get newest gcc for debian?
I can't build my apps on gcc since I use various c++0x features. I'm on Debian 6 (Lenny) and after upgrade/updating I have gcc version 4.4.5-8. I'm unsure which version is required but mingw 4.6.2 ...
3
votes
1answer
3k views
How do I install Chromium on Linux Mint using Software Manager?
I intalled Linux Mint 10 and would like to use it instead of Windows as a desktop OS. The first thing I would like to do is to install the Chromium web browser.
So I start Software Manager and then ...
3
votes
2answers
195 views
How to figure out the exact package name of a `.so` file, so that it can be installed through `zypper`?
anisha@linux-dopx:~/tarBalls/qtFlash/bin> ./flashscript
./flashscript: error while loading shared libraries: libqtnmedia.so.2: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory
...
3
votes
1answer
394 views
libstdc++.so.3 => not found on CloudLinux, no SuperUser permissions, seemingly in chroot.
I am trying to install the Linux x64 BOINC command-line interface client on a CloudLinux machine with x86_64 Architecture.
When I try to run the executable I get an error:
./boinc: error while ...
3
votes
2answers
2k views
How to install g++ 4.7.2 & c++11 on CentOS 5.x?
I'm trying to install the latest stable g++ and c++11. My host did it through yum install and thought that it was the latest, but it's not, and they are now saying that this is beyond their level of ...
