[SOLVED] Installing applications

[Kieren]

What directory should I put programs such as Songbird and Eclipse Java once I have untared them?

I have a feeling that I need to create a softlink in /usr/bin but where do I keep the actual files?

[forever--faithless]

Since you are 'untarring' files I assume what you have downloaded is actually a source code file. These are not the actual files that need to be 'saved' somewhere in order to work as a program, it still needs to be 'compiled'. To do this depends on what programming language and compiling tools are used, but the most common is the MakeFile system.

Assuming the source code package is called "songbird.tar.gz" and is saved in your home directory you need to perform these commands from a console (applications>accessories>console):

tar -xzvf songbird.tar.gz
cd ./songbird
./configure
make
make install

However an easier method would be to use whatever package management software comes with your distro in order to install the programs, since compiling from source often involves dependency problems etc...

Cheers

[Kieren]

I understand how to compile programs using the method you have described. Songbird and Eclipse come as executables. For instance to launch Songbird I just go to the Songbird directory and type ./Songbird

What I want to know is where the correct place to store these files is?

[forever--faithless]

Normally linux stores user executable files in /usr/bin and the libraries for those files in /usr/lib. However assuming the program already works you can store it anywhere you like and create a symlink to /usr/bin/songbird so you can access it from the terminal.

Cheers