Ubuntu

General where to extract question

Asked by Esther Strom

So I'm pretty new to Linux, and although I've managed to get most of what I need either through the Ubuntu Software Center or with .deb files, there are a few downloads I need that just provide a tar.gz file. I know how to extract a file, but I don't know where to extract to. (These are applications I'm referring to, not just single zipped files.) Most of them contain bin and lib folders.

Can anyone point me in the right direction? Do I just extract the top-level folder to my usr directory? Or to somewhere else? Or does it vary based on the application? And if so, why isn't that mentioned in some kind of installation instructions?!

Thanks :o)

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François Tissandier
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François Tissandier (baloo) said : 		#1

.tar.gz contains the source most of the time. So they don't actually contain the softwares, but the plan + parts to build them.
That requires to "compile" the software. It can be a bit tricky, I try to avoid it as often as possible. Most of the time, you can add new software lists in the Software Center. That's much much better than to have to compile: faster, easier, and you get the software updates.

Are you sure the softwares you got in tar.gz are not available for Ubuntu without compiling? Would you mind telling us what you want to install maybe ?

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Esther Strom (esthermstrom-gmail) said : 		#2

I'm sure that what I need isn't available through the software center. It's PHPStorm, a commercial development IDE. I've run into the same thing with Aptana, another development environment.

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Best François Tissandier (baloo) said : 		#3

Oh ok, just checked, it's not the source. You just have to unpack it wherever you want, and run the "webide.sh" file.
You can then create a launcher for the menu manually.

So just unpack wherever you want, it doesn't matter.

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Esther Strom (esthermstrom-gmail) said : 		#4

Thanks! I'll give that a shot tonight when I'm home from work.

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Esther Strom (esthermstrom-gmail) said : 		#5

Thanks François Tissandier, that solved my question.

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marcobra (Marco Braida) (marcobra) said : 		#6

New to Ubuntu: read the Ubuntu Manual, it's very informative: http://ubuntu-manual.org/
Click on the "download Button" to download the latest PDF version.
The online help https://help.ubuntu.com/10.04/index.html

Relax and fun:
http://planet.ubuntu.com/ and Full Circle Magazine http://fullcirclemagazine.org/

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Esther Strom (esthermstrom-gmail) said : 		#7

Thanks! I just downloaded the manual. I do find it funny that their "optimized for printing to save the trees version" is actually two pages longer than the regular one... :o)