please help me understand how to install

[monster-munch]

hi
I am desperate for any help!!!
My machine is an acer aspire one series ZX5, running linux linpus lite. 512 MB memory 120 GB hard drive.

I am really not getting to grips with this o/s. please can someone explain in a very basic manner how to install zip so that i can open zip files. I am trying to install codecs. I have looked at various instructions on how to install but I really dont understand the instructions. I am desperate to get to grips with this and to learn but right now, i really am stuck and would much appriciate ANY help.

[jayd512]

Hello and Welcome!

I've not ran it, but Linpus is pretty much a slimmed down version of Fedora. So you should be able to install programs by opeing a terminal (command prompt), and using

yum install <package_name>

Aside from that, Linux doesn't really use Windows style zip-files, but tarballs. Here's a How-to for that. Let us know if you have any problems with it.

[monster-munch]

hi jay thankyou for your response, ok
1st - when i go into the terminal the page shows [user@localhost ~] $

do i need to clear this before i type any instruction

2nd - is user my username (as per the further instructions you directed me to?)

if this is correct and user is my username after following the instructions the screen changed to [user@localhost src] $. If I then type unzip <linux codecs> i get
bash: syntax error near unexpected token 'newline'
what am i not doing?

[jayd512]

Little info on the terminal.

1st - when i go into the terminal the page shows [user@localhost ~] $

Where you see [user@localhost ~] $, it's just like in the Windows world when you see C:\. That's where you type your command. No need to clear anything... she's just sitting there waiting for you!

2nd - is user my username (as per the further instructions you directed me to?)

It would seem so. Unless you actually create a user account, Linux will assign 'user' as the username.

I should have mentioned that to install any type of software or programs on a Linux system, you will need root privileges, kinda like being the Administrator in Windows. So first, in the terminal, type

su -          <enter>
enter your root password when prompted (nothing will show on screen)
yum install <package_name>

As far as the tarball, carefully read the link that I posted, as the command to un-tar it (i.e., un-zip it) will differ depending on what file extension the file had. (i.e., tar, tar.gz.).

If that made sense... cool!
If not, let me know.

[monster-munch]

hi jay, sorry i must seem really stupid to you but honestly i have no clue here.

ok - so i have a downloaded file called linux codecs.zip. this is what i am trying to open and install so i can watch movies (at least then i use this machine for something while i learn about the o/s).
so i did the su thing you adivsed and after entering my password i got
[root@localhost ~]#

i then typed yum install <linux codecs> and got
-bash: yntax error near unexpected token 'newline'

so does this mean i have to tackle the zip thing first?

[monster-munch]

so in a frest terminal page i type

cd /home/user/src and get
[user@localhost src]$
i tpye - ls
and get a repeat of the above line.
i type unzip <linux codecs> and get
bash: syntax error near unexpected token 'newline'

i have the file i want saved to my disk:///home

i am sure this is really easy when you know how but right now, i really dont know how :0((

[jmadero]

You don't want to install things this way for the most part. Look in the yum repository for whatever codec package has it all. I use Ubuntu so I can't help you out too much for codecs but you might want to try VLC, it's very functional and comes with codecs installed.

yum install vlc

hope that helps

[monster-munch]

sorry again, but what is the yum repository and how do i get there?
and what is VLC, and again where do I find it.

like i said i'm a total newbie to this o/s and am eager to give it a chance so again thank you for your help.

[jmadero]

No need to apologize, we were all new to linux at one point or another and each of us relied on forums like this to get us to the next stage.

VLC is an alternative media player (video player) that has all codecs installed in the player itself so you don't have to install a codec package for it (it's actually available in Mac and Windows also). It's very clean and has some nice features to it.

To install it you open up a terminal and type the following:

su
your super user password (it won't show up as characters or anything, a safety feature of Linux)

yum install vlc

Then you should have it listed in your Applications -->Sound & Video (I believe, again I use Ubuntu not FC so I could be slightly off on that)

As for the yum repository here's a little information on it:

Major distributions of Linux have repositories (Ubuntu, FC, PCLinuxOS, Debian, etc...). These repositories are just a massive list of programs on servers that you have listed (you can add to these and get more programs listed in your package manager, some repos (repositories) will add things like Skype, Picasa, etc... to your package manager.

The good thing about having this is that there is no need to go on your browser, search for software, download, manually install it (and possibly the other programs it depends on).

yum install package name is calling on the repositories that you have in your sources to see if it is on one of the servers, if it is it installs the program and the programs it depends on automatically.

If you want a GUI (graphical version instead of using yum install in terminal) you do the following:

on the top of your screen go to systyem --> administration, then look for some kind of package manager in there (ubuntu uses synaptic package manager, I believe FC uses RH Package Manager or some deviation of that).

As stated, this will show a tremendous amount of software that you can choose from (mine lists over 25000 programs -- I have a few extra repos though).

Feel free to ask any question without apologizing We'll try as best as we can to help

[monster-munch]

ok, i dont appear to have VLC. when i followed your first instructions i got
fedora 100%
updates 100%
setting up install process
parsing package install arguments
no package vlc available
nothing to do

however I have found the package manager and under applications i have located sound and video. When i click on optional packages i get a long list of packages. How do i know which ones to add so that i can play movies on Mplayer?