i need help!!!! (installing .tar.bz2 files)

ok i jus downloaded a .tar.bz2 file. after extracting it to my desktop i clicked on the executable and said "run in terminal".. and it installed fine and the terminal exited automatically.
after this i have no idea what happened..but i'm able to run the program only when i click on the executable.. it dosen't show up in Applications Menu..
i even tried "whereis program"... but it didnt find anything (or is there no command like that?? )

P.S.- i was trying to install songbird.. in case ur wondering.

 

Songbird?
Use the one from getdeb.net

 

thanx

but otherwise also.. is there a way for me to install it??

 

Not sure, Im gonna find out eventually lol..

 

Sure.

1. Download it: http://download.songbirdnest.com/installer/linux/i686/Songbird_0.6_linux-i686.tar.gz

2. Open it with File Roller or whatever archiver you're using.

3. Extract it to, say, /home/your_login/bin/songbird (create this directory if required)

4. Open a terminal, type 'cd /home/your_login/bin/songbird', then type './songbird' to run it.

That's it.

Or, you could create a shortcut for Gnome panel or whatever to avoid running Songbird from a terminal.

 

The command you're thinking of is which: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Which_(Unix)

Sounds like Songbird uses Java, if you can just run a precompiled executable when you download the tarball. However, if you download a non-Java program, you want to first do

Code:

sudo apt-get build-dep [u]program name[/u]

This will install all the dependencies required to compile the program. Then you unarchive the tarball and change into the newly created directory. If you're not just trying to install a newer version than there's available in the repositories, then you will have to manually figure out the dependencies using the output from the next command:

Code:

./configure

You can also add the '--prefix=<install location>' flag to this command to choose where to install to. I think it defaults to /usr/local, but the default (if the prefix flag is omitted) can probably be changed somehow, so it might be different for you. If all the dependencies are satisfied, the configure script will complete successfully. Then you just run

Code:

make

to compile the code and

Code:

make install

to install it.

I know your question was already answered, but I'm guessing people trying to install a non-Java tarball are going to find this thread when they search.

 

thanx a ton for the help guys... much appreciated..

 

If you need your application you're interested in to be visible in Start menu of KDE or Gnome, you need to install it via distribution natural package system.
Usually it means you need to build .rpm or .deb since these are two most common distribution package systems.
You need to download source code of your program and then build you desired package, which can be then installed via native distro installer (rpm, apt-get or its graphic extentions like yum, synaptic etc etc).
If you dont install it like this you can (like other guys mentioned here) unpack it and then just run the executable file. You can make link to your executable from your Desktop and start menus, you can add link to /usr/local/src (or other searchable PATH) to start it automatically from command line without need to "cd" to the location where you unpacked it.
This has one drawback - system installer is not aware of such installed appz and so that means any possible updates/changes/patches to the app must be done single handedly. This is bearable, on your own desktop, but not in some larger environments...

gl&hf with linux installations

 

Yum is a command line tool, helikaon.

 

sory, i meant yumex

 

Sure.....
j/k