X-OS-Name: Linux 2.6.11-7.mm.18mdk
X-Uptime: 7 days
On Sun, 12 Mar 2006 11:00:05 +0000, Roy Schestowitz
<newsgroups@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> __/ [ Daniel ] on Sunday 12 March 2006 09:29 \__
>> I've just installed a Genealogy program, but it hasn't been set-up in
>> the location that I want, i.e. I downloaded the rpm file into my TEMP
>> folder and then wanted to install it in .genealogy mount, but it
>> installed itself into a location of its own choice (I hate this with a
>> passion) in a .gramps mount. (Are these called mounts?)
1st, you didn't say HOW you installed it, or if it was a
Mandrake/Mandriva rpm. Those factors can make a big difference in how
to advise you to proceed.
2nd, programs are not installed in '.whatever' files. Those '.whatever'
files in the /home directory are only the user's configuration files,
similar to user config files in:
C:\Documents & Settings\Username
...in the Windoze world. So 'geneology' is not installed there. The
executable is normally installed in /usr/bin, but there may be many
files installed by a package in several locations. To see all the
files installed by a package and their locations, open a terminal
and type:
$ rpm -ql <packagname>
Non-Mandrake packages may or may not offer to install in a location of
your choice. None of this is really basically different than the way
software installs in Windows, actually, the filenames involved are just
different. IOW in Windoze most stuff is installed in:
C:\Programs\packagename
...instead of:
/usr/bin
and Windoze installers may or may not give any location option.
>>
>> I thought I'd delete it, and was given the opportunity to un-install the
>> rpm file, which is not what I want to do, I just want to get rid of the
>> .gramps mount and all its contents.
That will only delete your configuration for the program. You *should*
have that file.
>> Doesn't Linux have a program un-install function, a la Windows? Or, if I
>> want to get rid of a program, do I just move it, lock, stock and barrel,
>> to the Waste basket?
Of course it does, better than in Windoze. Problem is, depending on HOW
you installed whatever it is you installed, you may have mucked that up.
If you installed your genelogy software properly, you can go to Mandrake
Control Center > Software Mnagement > Remove do a search for the name of
the package you want to uninstall and remove it. However, package
handling is very easy with some simple commands and more powerful than
using the GUI Software Management utility, which is actually just a GUI
frontend to the actual package management program, urpmi. I'll include
basic instructions at the enc of this message that will really get you
up and going with urpmi. Once you get the hang of it, installing
software in Linux is faster and easlier than in Windoze.
> I suggest you install all RPM's under the Control Center of Mandrake and
> use the "Software" module of Control Center to uninstall existing programs
> (see example in [1]). Forget about the command line. It is obsolete and
> unnecessary for new Linux users.
You couldn't be much more wrong. The GUI installers are ok for really
raw n00bs, but beyond that, once a user learns open a terminal installing
software from the command line is very easy. The CLI is anything but
obsolete, and certainly sometimes still necessary, just as
Start > Run
...is sometimes still needed in Windoze. Note that Windoze Vista will
include a much improved, far more powerful CLI than any previous version
of Windoze. Why is that, if the CLI is obsolete?
> [1] http://www.schestowitz.com/temp/screenshots/uninstall-openoffice.jpg
Your screenshot is only valid IF one is using KDE. Better to have shown
a screenshot of the Software Management utility in MCC, which is
basically the same but can be used regardless of choice of Desktop
Environment (KDE, Gnome) or window manager (IceWM, Fluxbox, etc.) or
even without X at all, should X be broken or not installed.
This should help Daniel get the basics of using the real power of urpmi:
**Basic urpmi setup and usage**
Urpmi will easily and automagically take care of finding, downloading
and installing software and its dependencies, if any. The "Software
Management" utility in Mandriva Control Center is a simple to use GUI
frontend for urpmi, the software management utility. Think of the
Software Management utility in Mandriva as roughly the equivilent to the
"Add/Remove Software" utility in Windows Control Center. But it's also
very easy and more powerful to use urpmi from the command line.
Of course you can install software from your CDs, but to best use either
the GUI installer or urpmi manually, particularly if you have a
broadband connection, it's best to first set up online sources for
downloading, installing and updating software. To do this you need to
know how to 'su' to become the 'root' adminstrator, which is very
simple. Just open a terminal and at the '$' prompt do this:
$ su
Password: <type.your.root.password>
#
Note that the cursor changed from '$' to '#' indicating you now have
'root' administrator rights, so be careful! Think of this as similar
to the difference between being a 'user' or an 'administrator' in
Win2k/XP. If you don't fully understand the 'su' process or what root
permissions mean some simple Googling will explain it.
Now to setup your online software sources. Go here:
http://easyurpmi.zarb.org/
Follow the directions to setup your online package sources. Choose
them carefully, staying with sources for your particular version of
Mandriva. You'll want to add the main sources for your distro version,
updates, Contrib, PLF free and non-free, and maybe the Seer of Souls
and/or Thac's rpms.
Warning!! Add the Cooker sources at your own risk. Cooker is beta
stuff still in testing for the next release and may or may not cause
you serious problems.
When you've finished setting up your source mirrors you can start using
the real power of urpmi. You can now install/uninstall a package using
your newly-setup online sources either by using the Software Manager GUI
in Mandriva Control Center, or better, by using urpmi manually from the
command line.
To install manually with urpmi open a terminal, 'su' to root, then type:
# urpmi -v <packagename> ('-v' for verbose output is optional, but I
like the extra info it provides and always use it)
Note that usually <packagename> can be just the 'simple' version. Using
the text email client Mutt for an example, instead of typing the full
package name:
# urpmi -v mutt-1.5.9i-8mdk.i586.rpm
Use:
# urpmi -v mutt
That's it! That's all you have to do do install! With that simple
command urpmi will automagically go to the 'Net sources you choose, find
and download the latest available Mutt rpm for your version of Mandriva,
grab any other packages needed to resolve all dependencies and install
everything in the correct order. If urpmi cannot complete the
installation, either because all the required software isn't available
on the source mirrors you choose or possibly some other conflict(s), it
will stop the install process before any actual changes are made to the
system and give you some info about the problem.
Similarly, for packages you've downloaded and saved, just use the 'cd'
command to navigate to the directory where you saved them:
# cd /mysaved/rpm/is.here
Then (for this, you will need to use the full packagename):
# urpmi -v <packagename>
Uninstalling a package is simply 'urpme' instead of 'urpmi'.
Be aware that while using rpms compiled for other versions of Mandriva
or for other distros can sometimes be done, mixing up rpm packages
between versions or distros is NOT recommended or the faint of heart.
It is very possible to trash your system unless you really know what
you're doing. Always try to use correct rpms for your distro and
version whenever possible. In the case of Mandriva so many packages are
available it's almost always possible to find what you need in a correct
rpm.
Think of mixing up rpm packages as similar to installing Windows
software where installing something on Win98 but meant for WinXP (or
vice-versa) may not work and may even break things.
But unlike Windows, Linux and urpmi allows you to first do a 'test'
installation in such cases instead of having to just try installing and
see what happens. To do a test install, do this:
# urpmi -v --test <packagename>
This does a 'dry run' to check if the package(s) can be sucessfully
installed but without actually changing anything on the system. If all
is well, the test will end with "Installation is possible" and you can
remove the '--test' switch and install normally.
It's important to always install rpms, not from tarballs (.targz,
.tar.gz, which are often raw source code) when using any rpm-based
distro like RedHat, Suse or Mandriva, at least until you have a good
understanding of just what you're doing. This is also true of '.deb'
package based distros such as Debian or Ubuntu.
Why?
Because if you always install rpms (or .debs), then Mandriva's urpmi (or
Suse's YAST, Debian's apt or whatever package manager) is able to
properly keep track of everything installed on your system and so keep
everything correctly configured, updated and avoid conflicts. But if
you install any packages from source tarballs no information about that
package or the files it installed are entered into the urpmi database.
You then have a situation where urpmi may not properly keep things
straight since it has no info about the installed tarballs or their
contents. The chances of installing from tarballs breaking anything is
fairly slight, but it can happen, so why risk it if you don't have to?
Also, software installed from a rpm package is often easier to uninstall
than that installed from a tarball.
Sometimes a particular piece or a newer version of software may only be
available as a source tarball. No problem. It's very easy make your
own rpms from source tarballs with a handy utility called checkinstall,
included on the Mandriva CDs. In a nutshell, checkinstall makes a
simple .rpm package by replacing the traditional compile and install
commands:
./configure
make
make install
With:
./configure
make
checkinstall
I won't go into more detail about checkinstall here. Google for more
info about it or install the checkinstall package and then type:
$ man checkinstall
...in a terminal.
This should be enough to get you going. For more info, open a terminal
and type 'man urpmi" or do some Googling, particularly 'easy urpmi'.
Lotsa info available.
--
Registered Linux user #266531
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