Quote Originally Posted by jehan60188
ok, cool. so let me break these commands down (just so I can check my understanding)

it looks like "su" puts me in root/administration mode
Correct
"dselect update" runs an updating script
Yep again, it updates your local database with what's available from repositories in your /etc/apt/sources.list
and "apt-get install kaffeine -s" installs the program using apt, which is a software management utility, right?
Yep, except that the -s simulates it first to check for problems.
If you want a GUI for this you can try K.menu -> System -> KPackage
Have a look also at http://www.knoppix.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2638 for info about apt.

So to install kaffeine I would:
su
dselect update
apt-cache search kaffeine (to look for the package)
apt-cache policy kaffeine (if I want to see which version is installable)
apt-cache show kaffeine (to have a look at what it's about)
apt-get install kaffeine -s (to see if it would install ok)
apt-get install kaffeine (to actually install it)