Basic Help

haroldjclements · #1 14th June 2006, 07:44 PM

Hello All,

I am new to Linux (so you need to be very very basic) and I having a problem installing FireFox 1.5.0.4

I have downloaded it (firefox-1.5.0.4.tar.gz) and have unpacked it (tar –xzvf firefox-1.5.0.4.tar.gz). Now I have a nice folder called ‘firefox’…what do I do next?

Thanks for your help,
Harold Clements

tebbens · #2 14th June 2006, 07:55 PM

Delete the directory.
Install via yum.

Check to see if its already installed
#yum info firefox
or
#yum list installed | grep firefox

If its not installed...
#yum install firefox

haroldjclements · #3 14th June 2006, 08:01 PM

I have an older version istalled (1.5.0.1). Do I need to unstall this version first?

Thanks very much for your help.
Harold Clements

tebbens · #4 14th June 2006, 08:06 PM

#man yum
#yum update firefox

haroldjclements · #5 14th June 2006, 08:30 PM

Thank you very much ‘tebbens’, your help has been very appreciative.

If you have time, could you explain to me what I have just done?

I take it that the .tar file that I downloaded previously was not used.
The ‘yum update firefox’ command downloaded the updates and installed them as it went along.

Is this how you install must application under Fedora, or does it only work with specific vendors?

Thanks again,
Harold Clements

Thoreau · #6 14th June 2006, 08:44 PM

"YUM" stands for Yellow Dog Updater Modified

It's the easiest way to install 'programs' in Fedora

Other Linux distros have similar programs, Debian has apt, Gentoo has portage

If you can't find an app using Yum, and there is no RPM for it, you will have to build it from source. Building apps from source allow you to optimize the program to your hardware.

tebbens · #7 14th June 2006, 08:47 PM

Untill you understand more about the way packages (programs) are installed in FC5,
you should always use yum. Don't install from the source (.tar) file untill you know what
your doing.

Yum manual: man yum
http://fedora.redhat.com/docs/yum/en/

List all available packages:
yum list available

Package Description:
yum info <package-name>

Install Package (run as root):
yum install <package-name>

You basically just updated firefox to the latest version.

haroldjclements · #8 14th June 2006, 08:52 PM

Thanks very much...

tebbens · #9 14th June 2006, 08:57 PM

Welcome to Linux and Fedora !