"daybrown" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > [...] > I am beginning to get some idea of what's involved in > installing Linux, but my batting average installing apps sux. > I downloaded Opera, but have no idea what the Qt thing > is about.
If you're using SuSE, you should stick to using YaST as the package installer. It's one of SuSE's strengths, and it's quite good. Take some time to read up on it in the documentation (which is EXCELLENT). Later, you can try some of the other tools and compiles from tarballs and such. YaST will help you get apps installed and keep you out of trouble, unless you really insist. > [...] > Given similar experiences with apps that were not installed > by the distro with the kernel, I can see getting BASICLINUX > booted from the dos prompt, but I dont see how I could get > a browser loaded and running off it. Sometimes it is an RPM, > sometimes a .kpg, .deb, or maybe .tar or gz... a confusing > array of different formats. I dunno why the distros dont come > with a single tool that will recognize every archive format > and figure out how to install from it. Because different people want different things, and may have different ways of accessing packages. Package managers are one of the ways that distributions differentiate themselves. Some prefer easy-to-use point-and-click, others want more control. There IS some standardization, though it's not 100% yet. APT for package management and RPM for format seem to be catching on, though there's still a lot of debate. This same issue exists in Windows and DOS. There was no one way to install stuff, though there are a handful of commonly used approaches. Some are great, others less so. > [...] > In dos, just about everything out there is .zip These days, yes. But that certainly wasn't the case when LHA, ARJ, ARC, ZOO and ZIP were all battling away for supremacy. I was a BIG zoo fan in the late 1980's. > [...] > And if there is such a superior Linux tool, then why dont the > distros include it? Many do. Why aren't you using YaST under SuSE? - Bob To unsubscribe from SURVPC send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with unsubscribe SURVPC in the body of the message. Also, trim this footer from any quoted replies. More info can be found at; http://www.softcon.com/archives/SURVPC.html
