Can I install linux programs on Redhat ?

[dsnd_medic 0]

Can I download any linux drivers or programs to run on Redhat 9 or do I have to get them from the redhat website. The reason I ask is because I downloaded minicom for redhad and it unpacked an loaded OK (although I never did find out where the program was in the system and thus couldn't run it) but when I downloaded a different terminal program that was linux compatable (kermit) it kept giving errors when I tried to unzip it.

 

Can anyone advise on the above points...even the one in brackets...please

 

Thanks

 

Andy

[LinuxCrusader 0]

It depends and corrent if I'm wrong Danleff or DD, but from my experience whenever I'm looking for a specific package or program, most of the times there will be options to download for specific distros such as for debians distros, rpms for red hat or mandrake, and so on. However, if it is a program for universal linux zipped or tarred then it is probably for all Linux distros. For example, I remember going to the Xine website to try to install Xine and I would download it, compile it, and install it under the different distros that I would experiment with and Xine would always install under the distros that I experiment with.

 

So I would say that most of the time if a program is tared or zipped, then you can probably install it on any linux distro...judging from my experience, but remember that you have to keep in mind that some programs might be for a expecific kernels or desktop managers with the right depencies also.

 

 

[Dapper Dan 0]

What did those packages end with? .rpm? .tgz? .gz or .zip? You can unzip/install all uder Linux, but in different ways.

[iamroot 0]

All "Linux-compatible" software will work on all GNU/Linux distros with the exception of Debian packages and RPMs. It's just that your distro might not have some packages that the software requires resulting in a non-install.

[dsnd_medic 0]

Are you saying that linux software which is downloaded is usually source files and needs to be compiled on my Redhat machine ? If so can you point me in the right direction to find out where I can learn to do this please.

 

Thanks

 

Andy

[Dapper Dan 0]

Different distros use different package management. As a quick reference, Redhat, Mandrake and SuSE use the ".rpm." Slackware, and Gentoo use source packages that end it ".tgz." Debian distros use Debian packages which end in, (what else) ".deb"

 

So, if you were looking for a certain app or program, you'd want to Google for it or go somehwere like rpmfind.net to look for it, if it isn't already in your RedHat 9 package tree. Package management will be in your menu.

 

Sometimes you'll wan to run an app that you simply can't find as an .rpm. In such cases, the package may end in .tgz, .gz, .bz etc. these packages must be compiled.

 

Think of RPM's as a cake you buy at the store, and source packages as the ingredients or directions for a cake you make or compile yourself.

 

To install an .rpm, open a terminal and become root. If the package you want to install is in your home directory, you'd go...

 

rpm -ivh nameofpackage-i386.rpm

 

And press enter.

 

Source packages are a little more difficult. You first must "unzip" them before compiling them.

 

Since you have Redhat 9, I highly recommend that you use apt-get RPM. Based on the Debian model of package management, apt-get RPM fetches the correct .rpm for you, figures out and solves the dependencies,(in most cases), and installs them all in just a few short and automatic steps.

 

Is any of this helping or did you need to know something else entirely different than what I'm assuming you are wanting to know?