dpkg: requested operation requires superuser privilege

Ok some advices first:

try to install as much as possible from the repositories, which means using Synaptics or the "add softwares" option of the main menu. In Linux, you don't download and install softwares like with Windows. Maybe you already know this, but I prefer to confirm it. I know that some softwares are not available in the repos, but most of them should be, even if you have to add some repos. When you want to install something, always look in those softwares first, they are "validated" for Ubuntu and will keep the system stable.

Then to install a software, you need to have the rights to do it. A basic user cannot, so you must be superuser. On Ubuntu, the password of the root account is unknown. I know it sounds weird, and that most distributions let you decide of this password. But that's another way to secure the system. Instead, you can add any user in the administrator group, and they can run anything as root. That's the case for your account.

To run a software as root, in the terminal, you must put "sudo" before the command.
So if you want to install a package, the command will be

sudo dpkg -i name_of_the_package.deb
The password is the same one as you are using to log into your system.

su is what you should use when you know the password of the root account, but you don't, so use "sudo" instead. The documentation of Sun is just incomplete and forgot about this possibility.

HOWEVER, you don't need to do this anymore with Ubuntu! Just double click on the package, and you will have to enter the passord for your acccount, and bing, it will get installed.

To install realplayer, I would not use a file downloaded from internet as you can install it from the repos. You must activate the commercial repositories to do so though. Tell me if you can't find how to do it. Also, I don't know if you can install this file, .exe is usually for windows, it won't work on Ubuntu of course.

I hope it helps.

By the way, just in case you are not familiar with Ubuntu and Linux, I quickly searched for "gmail" in the "add applications" software, and it found me two notifiers. Maybe you dont want those but another one. But if you just didn't know, it's better to install from here. First coz it's easy, just a few clicks, a password and it's installed. Then because you don't need to check for updates, the software will get updated automatically with the system. And finally you can be sure it will be integrated smoothly in the system. Only advantages!

Thanks Francois; no I didn't know any of that. In fact the sum total of my Linux knowledge is what you have just told me.

I have since found the Synaptic package manager and managed to install the Gmail notifier. I have found some others on the repository CD I got, but sometimes get the message "Same version is available in a software channel. You are recommended to install the software from the channel instead." What does this mean?

I have also now installed all the Java programmes I found on the repository disc, but I still get a message from the logmein.com site that I need an additional Java plugin.

Hi,

Have a look here https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Java on how to install the Java plugin, scroll down until zou fin the "Java on Mozilla Firefox" section.

Best regards,
Flavius

Francois - Yes please, could you tell me how to activate the commercial repositories.

Flavius - I looked at that page, and it says that Free Java is already installed, and gives the Sun Java instructions as: Sun Java6: sun-java6-bin, sun-java6-jre. I do not understand what to do with this information. Can you help me understand it? Unfortunately, I am a complete beginner at Linux.

Open Synaptics
Enter your password
Then Configuration Menu > Repositories
Then second tab (third party softwares), you should see a line "http://archive.canonical.com/ubuntu feisty-commercial main".
Activate it if it's not.

Then close the windows, and in the main Synaptic windows, first click "update" to load the new softwares list from this new repo, then use the "Search" function to look for "realplay" in the name of the softwares. You should be able to find the RealPlayer 10.

Also for Java, look for "SUN".
You can install sun-java6-jre, sun-java6-bin and sun-java6-plugin.

That's better to install Java this way I think.

I'm not using Ubuntu in english, so if you cannot find what I'm talking about, tell me, I will install the english language pack.

Hope it helps!

"Same version is available in a software channel. You are recommended to install the software from the channel instead." What does this mean?

You can install softwares from your CD or from the internet repositories. So it's just telling you "the software is on the CD, but also online, it's usually better to install it from internet, should I do it?". The internet version could be more up-to-date, so you should accept.

For logmein, could you give me the page where you have the problem? Can I access it?

And about software installation, just to clarify:

the "easy" way is to use the application from the main menu. In this application, you just see softwares with graphical interface usually, no libraries, no command line stuffs. That's easier to use. Please note the dropdown list on the upper right corner, there you can define if you want open source softwares only or not. I select "all softwares" usually to make sure I don't miss one.

Then the "powerful" way is to use Synaptic. You can see many more things there, including librairies (used by softwares), command line tools, etc... Use it only if you can't find with the first tool.

Finally, about the repositories, if you check in Synaptics, maybe they are not all activated, especially the universe and multiverse ones. They give you access to more softwares, you should activate them. Once it's done and you master those tools, you should be able to manage all your softwares in a few clicks.

I don't think I can see the problem in logmein, I don't have an account. Could you give us the exact error message you have? And confirm us that in Synaptics you see sun-java6-bin, sun-java6-plugin, and sun-java6-jre as installed? Thanks!

Francois - Thanks, that all worked, and I will now . Real Player is now working, and I managed to download and install the Sun Java files. logmein is no longer telling me I need a plugin, but it is giving me the following error message: "java.security.AccessControlException: access denied (java.net.SocketPermission and then a load of logmein codes" Anything you can help with?

Sorry, that should have said "I will now be able to install programmes".

Apparently, the error I am getting means "you are not using the latest version of ActiveX. You can update the plug-in by visiting the following website: http://www.remotelyanywhere.com/connect_axtest.asp "

Can I resolve this?

Ouch, sounds bad. ActiveX is a proprietary application for Internet Explorer. You can't make it work with any other browser.

So you can forget about using this website on Ubuntu. If you still need access to it, you can run XP in VMWare or Virtualbox, it should work, but it's not as comfortable.

For your java error, it's difficult to say. Could be a wrong login/password, but I think you know them. Is it possible for you to contact them ? It's their application refusing you, so they will debug it much easily than us.

Yes, that ActiveX thing was a red herring. They now tell me it's because I do not have the latest version of Java installed. I checked in Synaptic, and sun-java6-bin, sun-java6-plugin, and sun-java6-jre are all now installed. Is this the whole lot?

I guess so... But sometimes it's tricky, you need Java5 to make an application work. It's quite fast to install/uninstall, so maybe we should give it a try?

In synaptic, uninstall Java6. Install the same packages, but for Java5.

Hi,

installing Sun Java is not enough, you need to make it the default on your system. Try the following:

sudo update-alternatives --config java

it should give you a list of different java installations on your system. Select the one you want (most likely java6), restart your browser and try again.

Best regards,
Flavius

Hi Guys,

Java5 seems to work, although it is very slow; this may be because the Java interface is slower than the ActiveX, but I will take that up with logmein.

Can I have both Java5 and Java6 on my machine, and just make one the default, in the way Flavius has explained, or do I need to uninstall one (as I did with Java6)?

Anyway, I have a much better idea of how to use Ubuntu now, so thanks very much: it is actually easier to find and install new programmes than on Windows.

All the best

Tom

Hi,

yes, it is possible to have multiple Java installations on your system. Install Java6 and give it a try, maybe it will be faster the Java5.

Regards,
Flavius

Will do, Flavius. Thanks.

Thanks again to both of you; you have been enormously helpful.

You are welcome! enjoy your system!