new at linux help needed

hi all and thanks for for your quick response as usual.
I have decided to play around and on top of my xp pro instal ubuntu 7.04 so now i have dual boot.
Everything has gone smothly with instalation (after i gave up with suse 10.2 disk-couldnt boot for some reason from cd and wiped my naughty collection while creating partition:(
so now when i try to use ubunty and play around it i have few problems as minor as this:
i have tried to go to yahoo gaming site and required java which for some reason was not part of ubunyu.After downloading it to desktop i had no idea how to install it.it is bin file and my aproach as clicking in windows didnt have any success.i tried to follow instructions from java site and tried to manually install it but found that when i open terminal i fail at password.this can not be otherwise i wouldnt be able to log in at start at the first place.
I have google for it and found egsact same question and answer and for some reason it didnt work for me.
But i dont know what is required when u download any file how u install it?what is proper step?
thanks
I dont think specs are important but is asus motherboard with athlon 2600 with 1 gig of memory

If it an executable file, open a command line session,
navigate to the directory where the file is and type
sudo ./<filename>

In Ubuntu, use the sudo prefix for root access instead of
logging in as root.

Congrats for getting your feet wet in linux. You picked a good distro to start with. I'm no expert, just a dabbler so far. You'll find with Ubuntu you can hunt around through the menus and find most of what you need. Don't be afraid to explore. You may have noticed that Ubuntu is a little different from standard linux practice in how it handles administrative permission. Standard is to log on as "root" to make changes, then back as a user for regular use. I think Ubuntu has you type "su" for super user to do admin tasks. (Experts feel free to correct me where I've made mistakes.)
Two good sources for info would be the Ubuntu forums and our sister site, Justlinux Forums. There was a program called Automatix for a previous version of Ubuntu that would install a large package of additional programs. If it exists for 7.04 you'd find it in the Ubuntu forums.

Good luck.

If you are hunting for packages for Ubuntu and can't find an Ubuntu package, download the Debian package (.deb). Ubuntu is based on Debian. I've just had to double click on the Debian package and things worked.

With my system, (fiesty faun or 7.04) if I try to do an administrator level task, it asks me for my password again. I haven't had to use sudo except in terminal mode changing ownerships. The account you set up on install is by default and administrator level account.

have fun with Ubuntu, I've been using Linux since pre-Slackware 2.0. Ubuntu is the easiest operating system I've ever used. It's great for a senile old bastard like me.

(since 1970...IBM 1130, Sperry Univac AN-UYK-20, Apple II, Commodore 64, MS-Dos 1.0 - 6.22, every version of Windows, DEC RSX-11, VMS, OpenVMS, Unix, LynxOS, QNX, IRIX)

Hello unvi$ible,

I started using ubuntu about a month ago and had the problems you did. I am a long time user of windows and I feel like a total idiot when I try and do something simple like DL a file and then install it into my linux OS. To answer your questions about the java install its pretty simple... but of course its not done in the way you think...

First you need to go to the add/remove packages part of your GUI, i think its a drop down from the application tab. From there you should get a list of "supported" packages that you can download and have installed for you into ubuntu. For some reason sun JAVA is not a supported package in ubuntu so you will need to check the little radio box that says "show all packages" or something of the like..(im at work right now and I don't have my lappy in front of me so this is a sorta improvised help guide.)Once that is checked you will get TONS more apps that you can download and install into your OS. Sun java is in the internet or programming portion of the DL section. all you need do then is just click on it and select install and the package will DL and install itself volia!!

As for password problems, Ubuntu shields its users from directly logging into the system as root. When you get a password needed or do something that requires root access simply type SUDO before the command line and that will run the command as superuser AKA: root

As always google and ubuntu forums are your friends...feel free to PM me if you have any other questions about ubuntu.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by fourdc

If you are hunting for packages for Ubuntu and can't find an Ubuntu package, download the Debian package (.deb). Ubuntu is based on Debian. I've just had to double click on the Debian package and things worked.

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First of all I want to say I am new to Linux. After doing some research I decided to go with Debian for several reasons.

#1 stability. Debian emphasizes stability. From what I understand and correct me if im wrong, Ubuntu comes out with a new version with far less research time. Debian takes about 21 months between versions.

#2 I had lots of problems downloading the ubuntu iso and getting it to boot. Three times I downloaded and burned on cd Ubuntu only to fail to boot.

#3 Package Manager is great! Though some programs are not the latest stable version, it still works well.

As one noob to another, try the following:
Maybe first try the package manager and see if it has what you are looking for.
Secondly make sure you are in root. su then password in the terminal.
I have not tried to install the program but did you try ./configure, make, make install commands?
Did you check for dependencies:( Additional files need to run your program.
You will not be able to compile the program if you are lacking dependencies. I usually google the dependencies, download them, and try ./configure again.
I hope this helps.

Hi all,
Thanks for your reply.
I have tried to follow FNFive seveN path and open all packages but i can not see sun java anywhere there.There are over 1000 but not java:(

i have ubuntu 7.04 and if you can have a look once you come from work what is correct way.
I have played around a bit.
I have tried to install deb package too.Its not working so far.
Will keep trying
Thanks

Did you try: https://jdk-distros.dev.java.net/ubuntu.html

Also: http://www.javalobby.org/java/forums/t72809.html

Quote:

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Originally Posted by okos

#1 stability. Debian emphasizes stability. From what I understand and correct me if im wrong, Ubuntu comes out with a new version with far less research time. Debian takes about 21 months between versions.

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Doin't confuse laziness with stability. Time has nothing to do with it. FreeBSD and Slackware have around 2 versions a year and both can take on any OS for stability.

Quote:

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#2 I had lots of problems downloading the ubuntu iso and getting it to boot. Three times I downloaded and burned on cd Ubuntu only to fail to boot.

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If you did the burn the exact same way I really doubt it just failed. And considering Debian's stance on not having anything new to the point I used to joke about it coming with Emacs 1.0 (It didn't but it was saracastic and funny) I really don't think this is a valid reason for choosing one.

Quote:

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#3 Package Manager is great! Though some programs are not the latest stable version, it still works well.

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apt-get is useable on any distro you want it to be. I have it running on my laptop that I'm currently typing this from and it's Slackware.

FreeBSD has pkg_add -r which has more apps then I've ever seen.

RedHat and Mandriva / Mandrake have yum, and SUSE has, well, all of them.

As one noob to another, try the following:
Maybe first try the package manager and see if it has what you are looking for.
Secondly make sure you are in root. su then password in the terminal.
I have not tried to install the program but did you try ./configure, make, make install commands?
Did you check for dependencies:( Additional files need to run your program.
You will not be able to compile the program if you are lacking dependencies. I usually google the dependencies, download them, and try ./configure again.
I hope this helps.[/QUOTE]

Now, no one though to say this?:

apt-get --search java

I don't use Debian a whole lot but when I did it was similar to the other apt-get like system where search was a useable option.

Also, using firefox and having it download them for you may work since you're talking about using a web browser anyway for Yahoo.

If all else fails ro you get tired of docs not working because of Ubuntu's "wonderful' idea of not having a real root account like EVERYTHING before it, just try one that does.

Slackware works, as does SUSE, for just about everything.