On Sat, Nov 22, 2008 at 09:05, John Heinen wrote:

I have downloaded mozzila thunterbird and it is sitting on my desktop. One as Thunderbird 20017 tar gz and another one as thunderbird folder, what do I do now to start my email /internet

Hi John, In openSUSE, like most Linux distributions, it's rarely required to actually download software from a website directly (like you would commonly in Microsoft Windows, for example). Instead, you use a package manager. openSUSE also has a great online tool to search for software[0] that may not be part of the main distribution, like Thunderbird. openSUSE also has One Click Install, which makes it very easy to install software like Thunderbird[1]. Once it's installed using that second link, just select it from the your desktop's usual menu. If you have any problems, just ask back here and someone's bound to help out. Cheers, h Ps. Note all this relates to openSUSE 11.0 [0] http://software.opensuse.org/search?baseproject=openSUSE%3A11.0&p=1&q=thunderbird [1] http://software.opensuse.org/ymp/openSUSE:11.0/standard/MozillaThunderbird.y... -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse+help@opensuse.org

John Heinen wrote:

I have downloaded mozzila thunterbird and it is sitting on my desktop. One as Thunderbird 20017 tar gz and another one as thunderbird folder, what do I do now to start my email /internet

John, Henare and Carlos are right. One of the first hurdles to get over when you start working with linux is learning how to get software packages on and off your computer. It's actually quite simple, but daunting at first look. Not because it's hard, but just because it is something different from double-clicking on something.exe or something.msi or looking for setup.exe on a CD-ROM. Quick and Dirty: If you want to install tbird quickly and you installed openSuSE from the DVD, just throw the DVD back in the drive and then: (1) From the start menu (I assume you are using the square menu), choose Applications -> System -> Administrator Setting (YAST) (2) Enter the root password when prompted (If you set one) (3) Choose "Software Management" (4) In the "Search" box enter "thunderbird" return (5) Check the box next to "Mozilla Thunderbird" (6) Click "Accept" --- Done, now just exit yast and start thunderbird, it's ready to go: (7) Start Menu -> Applications -> Internet -> Email -> Thunderbird Understanding what you did, Brief Intro: Basically in linux there are two way to get a software package on your computer: (1) Install the source package and compile it and then have the install script put the pieces where they are supposed to go; (they usually end up in /usr/local if they are well behaved) or (2) Use one of the automated package installers that takes care of all the details for you and keeps track of what versions are installed and checks for conflicts. openSuSE uses the RPM system. (That's just an acronym for the 'Redhat Package Management' system) There are others, like the one Debian uses (.deb files), but RPM is probably the most widely used. Where you were: When you downloaded Thunderbird_20017.tar.gz, you were starting down the path of (1). That is just the source package for thunderbird in a tar file ("Tape ARchive") that has been compressed by gzip (similar to winzip). You could continue and install it, but there are reasons to stick with an RPM install on system that use RPM. (at least for packages that there is an RPM for) Why use RPMs: Without getting into details, rpms are built with some specifics for each version of linux they are meant to be installed on. Meaning the thunderbird rpm for opensuse 10.3 is different from the thunderbird rpm for opensuse 11.0. So don't go installing any old rpm you find and expect it to install without complaining. Which is also the beauty of the RPM system. It won't let you install things willy-nilly, it checks to make sure what you want to install is supposed to be installed on your system. RPMS on openSuSE: The primary way to install rpms on openSuSE is with YAST ("Yet Another Setup Tool"). In a bit more detail, what the software management function of yast does is let you choose which collections of packages ("repositories") to update or install software from. In the "Quick and Dirty" above, you used packages that were stored on the DVD for install, but a repository can be anywhere online across the globe. openSuSE probably has the widest select of software of any Linux distribution to choose from. That is why the collection of software is separated into separate repositories which keeps from having 10,000 different packages all stuffed into one directory. The repositories (or "repos" for short): The first thing to do to get your openSuSE system configured for use is to select the basic software repositories you will normally use. Take a look. openSuSE has probably already configured the update repository for you. Start yast again and open "Software Repositories". You will probably see "Updates for 11.0" (the update repo). You will then want to add a few more to make life easier. Click "Add" near the bottom. Here you see a number of different types of repositories and different access methods you can use to add repos. Click "Community Repositories" and "Next". You will then be presented with a list of repositories to choose from. (This example assumes you are running openSuSE 11.0) Put a check next to: Updates for 11.0 (if not already configured for you) openSUSE-11.0-Oss (Oss and Non-Oss are the repos that hold openSUSE) openSUSE-11.0-Non-Oss (they will allow you to install w/o asking for DVD) VideoLan Repository (has a few needed codecs for multimedia files) Packman Repository (the largest general repository) openSUSE BuildService - Mozilla (the latest updates for thunderbird, etc.) and if you have an ATI or NVidia card, choose the proper repository. They hold the drivers for your video card. ** Before clicking "Finish", you may want to highlight the "openSUSE-DVD 11.0" listing and uncheck the "Enabled" box so that you are not prompted for the DVD when installing software. The Oss and Non-Oss repos have all the packages on the DVD and then much more. ** Also note that openSUSE BuildService repositories hold thousands of packages and there a quite a number of repositories to choose from. Just take a look at: http://download.opensuse.org/repositories and you will get the idea. For additional information and repositories see: http://en.opensuse.org/Package_Repositories http://en.opensuse.org/Additional_YaST_Package_Repositories and for more help with setting up repositories, see: http://en.opensuse.org/Add_Package_Repositories_to_YaST ** Also, unless you want to become a beta tester and have development version (sometimes buggy) software installed on your box, avoid adding any "factory" repositories to you system. The Online Update and Software Management pieces of Yast: You have already seen the Software Management part of yast and you just need to remember, that is what you use to install, uninstall or update "packages". With online update, it deals with a single repository and it installs updates or "patches" (mainly security related) on your system. It has a very simple interface and will check for the latest patches and list the ones that need to be installed. NOTE: you don't have to select which ones to install, it does that for you. You will see check marks next to some patches listed, those are the ones it has *already* installed on your system. If you run online update manually, just start it, let it search and then click "Accept" and your done. (you also have the online updater applet that runs in your system tray that will tell you an update is available for you automatically) Final Thoughts: That will get you started. In close, the only other thing I would suggest is that you install 'webpin' that will make searching for packages easy for you. You can run it online at: http://packages.opensuse-community.org/ You will notice that the search results give you the option to install webpin (and other packages that match your search) by 1-click install, or you can browse to the repository and download and install the rpm manually from the command line with "rpm -Uvh <rpm-name>" The installed rpm of webpin will allow you to search for rpms from the command line and it tells you where what you are looking for can be found. The rpm for webpin is found here: http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/openSUSE:/Tools/openSUSE_11.0 Lastly, this was a HELL OF A LOT MORE than I had planned on writing, but seriously, once you make friends with how to manage your openSuSE system, it's all down hill from there. Good luck. -- David C. Rankin, J.D.,P.E. | Rankin Law Firm, PLLC | Countdown for openSuSE 11.1 510 Ochiltree Street | http://counter.opensuse.org/11.1/small Nacogdoches, Texas 75961 | Telephone: (936) 715-9333 | openSoftware und SystemEntwicklung Facsimile: (936) 715-9339 | http://www.opensuse.org/ www.rankinlawfirm.com | -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse+help@opensuse.org