major newbie.......need help

ok im 13 kinda comp. wiz on windows 98, got a spare comp. from tech guy @ school, got some ppl i know to install an OS on spare comp. either Linux or exotic OS, i got Linux (obviously y im here) and my dad downloaded some games and other programs off the net onto a cd, i got the cd on my comp.

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2 Posts
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Joined 2005-02-21
ok im 13 kinda comp. wiz on windows 98, got a spare comp. from tech guy @ school, got some ppl i know to install an OS on spare comp. either Linux or exotic OS, i got Linux (obviously y im here) and my dad downloaded some games and other programs off the net onto a cd, i got the cd on my comp. and "unzipped" the ".tgz" (i think) files into a new folder and now im clueless on how to get the programs runnning so i can use them. when i first booted up the login screen said debian, so im pretty sure it's that, but now my comp. likes the root user to login to KDE any idea what that is? im barely Linux savvy cause i took a programming course last summer and we used Linux and now im messing around with my new Linux. any idea how 2 help? :x

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23 Posts
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Joined 2005-02-06
Actually... The First thing I'd do is Make my posts a little bit more clear.
 
Second: I'd Download some Fedora Core 3 Packages... but I think you said this was an old computer... try Redhat 9. These Are the Esiest to use I think
 
Second: if the programs are in .tar.gz format... Use the Terminal/Command Prompt to browse to the location of the Tarballs. Then Use the command "tar xzvf <tarball filename>"
 
Yah.

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1678 Posts
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Joined 2003-09-27
Hi wqpalmer728 and welcome. If you're using a Debian system then you don't need .tgz or rpm files. The package management for Debian is .deb packages. Unlike other distros, you don't go looking over the web for packages as Debian uses a system called apt-get. There is a good front end "GUI" for Debian called "synaptic." If you're connected to the internet, open a terminal and type
 
su
 
And press enter. It will ask for your root password, (not your regular user password), type it in and press enter. You are now Super User. Now type:
 
apt-get update
 
And press [enter]
 
Do the above step a second time and press [enter].
 
Now go:
 
apt-get install synaptic [enter]
 
The synaptic front end will download and install. After the install, just type in the terminal as root:
 
synaptic [enter]
 
The synaptic front end will then come up. It's pretty easy to follow. You can then do a search for the packages you want to install.
 
I hope this helps...
 
 

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2 Posts
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OP
yeah, but the only problem is that my Linux i think doesn't have a modem because i do use a dial-up account to access the internet and when i plugged a phone line into the Linux, it didn't recognize it, i don't think.... sorry for my message that was hard to read..... and is there a way to get my Linux to automatically run cds because the only way i know is by clicking on the home button and it opens up a "Windows explore"-like window where i can see all files in a directory
 
thx again