Questions regarding Installing Programs in Linux.

[SHENGTON]

Hi experts, good day.

I have few questions regarding installing:
1. Why is that in Linux if we install a program we need to use a command?
2. Is Linux can't make a program which is already compiled and we just run the program to install it just like in Windows?

I'll be waiting for your answers guys.

Take care and God bless.

[MikeTbob]

Hi experts, good day.

I have few questions regarding installing:
1. Why is that in Linux if we install a program we need to use a command?
2. Is Linux can't make a program which is already compiled and we just run the program to install it just like in Windows?

I'll be waiting for your answers guys.

Take care and God bless.

Hello and Welcome to Linuxforums.
1. You don't have to install using commands, it mostly depends on which distro you use and which tools are provided to you. Many distro's provide a GUI add/remove program.
2. Same answer here, some distro's use binary packages, like RPM based distro's such as Fedora and some use source based packages like Gentoo.

Hope this helps.

[SHENGTON]

Thanks Sir MikeTbob for your answers. Your answers are great. Yeah I know about Package Manager and Add/Remove Programs. However, sometimes in Package Manger or in Add/Remove Programs, I didn't see what I need. So I need to search, download the package, and install it manually.

I'm using Kubuntu 8.10, I can install deb packages since Kubuntu and other variants are all based from debian without using a command. But some packages like .tar, .tar.gz, and etcetera need to manually install. Sometimes I forgot the commands on how to install.

I have a question again:
1. How many binary packages does Linux have?

I hope Linux does have a universal installer files so that we could just install it right away without using a command.

[oz]

You can check this howto for a number of different ways to install software under Linux. Generally speaking, it's easier for new Linux users to install software using the default package tool included with their distro.

Regarding universal installers: Installing from source is probably the most universal method of installing software under Linux, but it's not always an easy method for new Linux users.

Regarding binary count: I doubt that there is an accurate count on the total number of binaries available for Linux since that number could easily change from one day to the next.

[SHENGTON]

Regarding universal installers: Installing from source is probably the most universal method of installing software under Linux

Why do you think that installing from the source is the most universal method of installing software??

[oz]

Why do you think that installing from the source is the most universal method of installing software??

When you say "universal", if you mean the method most used for installing software, I'm not sure that it is the most universal. If you mean the software installation method that works on the most distributions, I believe it is the most universal.

Hope that makes sense.