how do I open tar.gz

Right click the file and select extract. It's just a compressed archive. Simply stating the file extension doesn't tell us the content.

It's the same in Windows. How do you install a .zip in Windows? It's nonsense.

You will need to look at the contents of the archive to see how the data is used to install the application.

@Johnny: what is the exact URL where you got the file from?

For example: was it http://homebank.free.fr/public/homebank-5.0.6.tar.gz ??

And which version of which operating system are you currently running?

Your issue description lacks the most basic details..... We need a LOT more details to be able to assist.

URL http://homebank.free.fr/downloads.php

> homebank-5.0.6.tar.gz

 Firefox 44-0-2

Ubuntu 12.

Using Archive Manager and I get a home bank folder, but /home/pappy/homebank-5.0.6/homebank-5.0.6 and /home/pappy/homebank-5.0.6/homebank-5.0.6.tar-1 which has many other folders, none of which initiates the program.

??????????

There is no such thing as Ubuntu 12. There is Ubuntu 12.04 LTS and Ubuntu 12.10.

Ubuntu 12.04 LTS is supported by the community and gets updates. Ubuntu 12.10 is NOT supported and does not get any new updates.

If you are running Ubuntu 12.04 LTS, please run the following Terminal commands to compile and install http://homebank.free.fr/public/homebank-5.0.6.tar.gz :

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install checkinstall perl perl-base libwxgtk3.0-0 libglib2.0-dev
sudo apt-get install libxml-parser-perl libofx-dev build-essential
cd
sudo rm -rf homebank*
wget http://homebank.free.fr/public/homebank-5.0.6.tar.gz
tar -zxvf homebank-5.0.6.tar.gz
cd homebank*
sed -i "s/gtk_widget_set_margin_start/gtk_widget_set_margin_left/g" src/ui-*.c
sed -i "s/gtk_widget_set_margin_end/gtk_widget_set_margin_right/g" src/ui-*.c
sudo ./configure
sudo make
sudo checkinstall
# source: https://bugs.launchpad.net/homebank/+bug/1511325

If you are running Ubuntu 12.10, replace it with a supported version of Ubuntu first.

Here is the list of supported Ubuntu versions:

https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Releases

You can learn a lot more about Ubuntu here:

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/ExternalGuides

If you decide to install Ubuntu 14.04 LTS or Ubuntu 16.04 LTS, it will be much easier to install this same program.

You just run these Terminal commands in either Ubuntu 14.04 LTS or Ubuntu 16.04 LTS (not released yet):

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:mdoyen/homebank
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install homebank

Don't try installing this PPA package in Ubuntu 12.04 LTS. 12.04 is NOT supported by that PPA.

I have 12.04 LTS

Opened the terminal window and now have it placed in a folder.

I extracted homebank to desktop

Could not open "homebank-5.0.6"

"Using Archive Manager and I get a home bank folder, but /home/pappy/homebank-5.0.6/homebank-5.0.6 and /home/pappy/homebank-5.0.6/homebank-5.0.6.tar-1 which has many other folders, none of which initiates the program."

Archive type not supported.

I thank you for your assistance. I feel I'm very close to solving this issue.

What is the output of:

ls /home/pappy/homebank-5.0.6/homebank-5.0.6

Thanks

aclocal.m4 config.sub doc Makefile.in po
AUTHORS configure homebank-5.0.6.tar-1 mime README
ChangeLog configure.ac images missing src
compile COPYING INSTALL mkinstalldirs themes
config.guess data install-sh NEWS
config.h.in depcomp Makefile.am pixmaps
pappy@pappy-Aspire-Z1620:~$

OK then open the INSTALL file and read....

Quite frankly, this is over my head. Thanks for responding.

Basic Installation
==================

Briefly, the shell commands `./configure; make; make install' should
configure, build, and install this package. The following
more-detailed instructions are generic; see the `README' file for
instructions specific to this package.

   The `configure' shell script attempts to guess correct values for
various system-dependent variables used during compilation. It uses
those values to create a `Makefile' in each directory of the package.
It may also create one or more `.h' files containing system-dependent
definitions. Finally, it creates a shell script `config.status' that
you can run in the future to recreate the current configuration, and a
file `config.log' containing compiler output (useful mainly for
debugging `configure').

   It can also use an optional file (typically called `config.cache'
and enabled with `--cache-file=config.cache' or simply `-C') that saves
the results of its tests to speed up reconfiguring. Caching is
disabled by default to prevent problems with accidental use of stale
cache files.

   If you need to do unusual things to compile the package, please try
to figure out how `configure' could check whether to do them, and mail
diffs or instructions to the address given in the `README' so they can
be considered for the next release. If you are using the cache, and at
some point `config.cache' contains results you don't want to keep, you
may remove or edit it.

   The file `configure.ac' (or `configure.in') is used to create
`configure' by a program called `autoconf'. You need `configure.ac' if
you want to change it or regenerate `configure' using a newer version
of `autoconf'.

The simplest way to compile this package is:

  1. `cd' to the directory containing the package's source code and type
     `./configure' to configure the package for your system.

     Running `configure' might take a while. While running, it prints
     some messages telling which features it is checking for.

  2. Type `make' to compile the package.

  3. Optionally, type `make check' to run any self-tests that come with
     the package.

  4. Type `make install' to install the programs and any data files and
     documentation.

  5. You can remove the program binaries and object files from the
     source code directory by typing `make clean'. To also remove the
     files that `configure' created (so you can compile the package for
     a different kind of computer), type `make distclean'. There is
     also a `make maintainer-clean' target, but that is intended mainly
     for the package's developers. If you use it, you may have to get
     all sorts of other programs in order to regenerate files that came
     with the distribution.

  6. Often, you can also type `make uninstall' to remove the installed
     files again.

Thanks Mark Rijckenberg, that solved my question.