help !!

[Lynda]

I have just bought a new ee laptop that does not have a DVD or CD slot, so have to install programmes online only. I am doing my family tree on Ancestry site but it is not compatable with Linux. Thhe only one I can find is GRAMPS, but I cannot see how to install it, I do not understand al the jargon. My machine has Damian. Can anyone out there help me please.

[NeoPjcpp]

Hmm... I just solved a similar problem under Debian. You have my empathy.

Which distribution do you use?

[Lynda]

Hi, I have no idea, don't even know where to look to find out. I have never used linux before and am completely in the dark. I cannot even find the page that told me I was using Debian. I know I sound dumb, but have always used windows before.

[Lynda]

Hi, I am even new to this site & think I did it wrong, I have no idea which distribution I am using, don't even know where to look to find out. I have never used Linux before & am completely inn the dark. I cannot even find were t told me I was using Debian again. I know I sound dumb, but have always used windows before. The site told me it needed apt-get install gramps, but don't even know how to get that !!!!!

[Dapper Dan]

Hi Lynda,

Take a deep breath and calm down. You didn't learn Windows in an hour either did you?

The eee pc uses a custom form of Xandros which is one of many Debian based Linux distributions... or as we say, "distros." There is a really good package management system for Debian called "apt-get" which you referred to earlier. It's simple enough to use, you just need a little time to get used to it.

I just checked on my Ubuntu machine (also Debian based) and this "Gramps" program you refer to is available and installable through apt-get.

UPDATE: I just installed "gramps" on my eee pc and have it running. I can tell you how to install it but it will take a little patience on your part. I'm willing to help you get it installed if you are.

First off: The eee pc has it's own package repositories and they do not include gramps. The regular Debian repositories do. So what we have to do is edit our apt-get sources.list so that our eee pc will call on the necessary repositories to get gramps installed. To do this press:

Ctrl - Alt - t

This will open a terminal or command line interface. We need to use an editor to open the sources.list file. Type in (or copy and paste this) into the terminal:

sudo kate /etc/apt/sources.list

...and press enter. You should see a file that looks similar to this:

deb http://update.eeepc.asus.com/p701 p701 main
deb http://update.eeepc.asus.com/p701/en p701 main
# deb http://www.debian-multimedia.org/ etch main

We have to add to this file the necessary repositories. Copy and paste this into the file:

# regular updates for etch
deb http://ftp.debian.org/debian/ etch main contrib non-free
deb-src http://ftp.debian.org/debian/ etch main contrib non-free

Your sources.list file should now look like this:

deb http://update.eeepc.asus.com/p701 p701 main
deb http://update.eeepc.asus.com/p701/en p701 main
# deb http://www.debian-multimedia.org/ etch main

# regular updates for etch
deb http://ftp.debian.org/debian/ etch main contrib non-free
deb-src http://ftp.debian.org/debian/ etch main contrib non-free

Save and exit: File > Save.

Your terminal should still be open. Type into it:

sudo apt-get update

...and press enter. After it updates, type in:

sudo apt-get install gramps

...and press enter. After the install is complete, type into the terminal:

gramps

...and press enter. The gramps program should come up. If after making it this far, we can make it easier to bring up gramps for you, but do this and see how far you get. If you have any questions, post back.

[Lynda]

thanks.
I have just typed in the " sudo Kate " code & my sauce list says:
deb Index of /1.6 common main
deb Index of /1.6 p1000 main
deb Index of /1.6 en main
so it is probably an older version than yours, where do I go from here ?
sorry to be a pain, but I have never used this before.

[Lynda]

Hi Dan,
I have gone through all the steps and have got a final message in the terminal saying " your python version does not meet the requirements. At least python 2.5.0 is needed to start gramps.
So I will now try to figure out how to upgrade this, any help would be appreciated.
Update, I cannot see how to do this, I am tearing my hair out !!!!!!

[Dapper Dan]

Hmmm... My eee pc has python 2.5. Strange that yours doesn't. Maybe it got included during an update at some time or other. At any rate, I can't see how installing python2.5 onto yours would mess anything up since it's on mine and runs fine. So I'd recommend just installing it:

sudo apt-get install python2.5

After installing, try and see if gramps is satisfied. Hope this helps...

EDIT: By the way, "kate" when used as a command is in all lower case. Kate is a file editor.

Also... don't pull your hair out. It'll take far longer to grow back than it will take you to get gramps working.

[Lynda]

Thanks for being so helpful, but it tells me python 2.5 is already the newest version.0 upgraded.0 newley installed.0 to remove and 203 not upgraded.
It then gives the same message about at least 2.5.0 needed. I do not understand it. Could it be because it is1.6 & not 701? When I go into software updates it keeps failing on Asus update system update - could this be the problem. I have only just got this machine and have not done very much with it yet. Not sure about the hair !!!

[Dapper Dan]

Lynda I'm still working on this for you. Can you open a terminal...

Ctrl - Alt - t

...type this in (or, copy and paste it in) and press enter:

sudo ls -l /usr/bin/python*

Please post the results here. Also, I'd like to the the results of:

gramps --version

Thanks.