Installing Applications

[HappyPaul]

Hello:

I've installed Knoppix 3.6 on my Hard Drive and have downloaded the Opera web browser which I would now like to install. I guess it's not like Windows where you just double-click on it, eh? Could someone tell me where to find the information on how to install new applications in Knoppix?

Thanks,

Paul

[pureone]

normaly its apt-get install someprogram

for deb files it dpkg -i
for rpm files it rpm -i
for bin files you chmod +x somefile.bin
then ./somefile.bin

bin = binary

by the way read the man pages. (this is all done in konsole, bash)

man dpkg
man rpm
man chmod

[probono]

klik://opera

[mr_ed]

Actually, it's better than Windows in some ways - there are "more than 8710 packages" (according to http://www.debian.org) in all kinds of categories that you can retrieve and install with just a few clicks from within synaptic or kpackage (or gnome-apt if you use Gnome instead of KDE).

Just two problems. One is that Opera isn't one of the 8,710.

The other is that Knoppix really isn't good at adding and maintaining software because of the design considerations for making a "live CD."

See, Klaus Knopper wanted a portable work environment without carrying around a laptop, so he made a disk that he could stick into any random, nearby computer.

To make that disk work on most random computers, he and his friends have put together software from different branches of Debian plus made some unique changes of their own.

Without a doubt, Knoppix is a finely tuned piece of German engineering, hand-fitted together by people who know what they're doing. But it means that adding or upgrading pieces sometimes has to be done just as carefully - and sometimes can't be done at all. Piece A from the "stable" branch of Debian may work with Piece B from the "testing" branch, but when you upgrade A to A1 and B to B1, all bets are off.

If you think you'll be doing much adding and maintaining, you might want to switch to a distro that is all from one development branch of one supplier. Right now Debian's "testing" release - sarge - is very good, for example. And if the hardware settings need just a tweak, those can be borrowed from Knoppix.

Other people swear by (and at) other distros when it comes to hardware detection. It kind of depends on what you want and what works for you. But if you want an office-on-a-CD, Knoppix is the first and probably still the best. Unless you ask someone who makes a different distro, of course.

-- Ed