The Different Install Packages Available in Linux

In Windows you usually look for a .msi, or .exe file to install a new
software.

In Linux you are usually given .bin, .rpm, .deb, .tgz, or .bz2

First lets tackle .bin files because they are the easiest to install.

1. First let us get a .bin file, go to java.sun.com

2. Download the jdk-1_5_0_05-linux-i586.bin ( this file is quite large
47mb so if you could get your hands on any smaller .bin file please
do so. Remember that we are just using this file as an example)

3. Open up a terminal (refer to my earlier post on how to do this)

4. In my case, after the browser finishes downloading, I always find
the file in /home/anthony/Desktop but on some system, downloads are
usually stored on your home directory, say /home/anthony

5. Assuming your file is in /home/anthony, enter the following command

$ chmod 775 jdk-1_5_0_05-linux-i586.bin

this will make the downloaded file exectutable

6. then type

$ ./jdk-1_5_0_05-linux-i586.bin

the program will automatically install

7. to check if the program really did install
simply type

$ ls

if you see a blue jdk1.5.0_05 in your list it means that the software
was installed.


I used 2 commands here that you are not familiar with (chmod and ls)
to see what these commands do type

$ man ls

or

$ man chmod


Good luck.