How to install from tar.gz2

[Sam Varshavchik]

Luis Orlindo Tedeschi writes:

> Folks; I am new to Linux/Fedora and I have a question regarding tar.bz2
> files. I searched for this topic and I did not get I clear answer. How
> to I install from a tar.gz2 file? Thanks in advance...

The real answer is to find a prebuilt rpm package that you can install, 
rather than mess around with the tarball. Most popular packages are already 
available, as installable rpms, from Fedora or companion repositories.

Manually installing a tarball, like that, is to be avoided if possible. Use 
"tar xjvf <filename>" to unpack the contents of the tarball, then read the 
installation instructions from the package. Each package has its own 
specific installation instructions that you must follow, after unpacking it. 
The usual steps are to run the configure script, make, then make install, 
but the package's installation instruction might specify some other process. 
You will find the correct usage options by reading the package's README, 
INSTALL, and NEWS files, or other documentation files in the package.

This is best done by someone who is already experienced in building 
packages. Doing a manual install this way means that the package's 
dependencies do not get recorded in the rpm database. You run the risk of 
accidentally overwriting files that you already have installed, or have the 
software you've installed overwritten at some later point, because it's not 
registered in rpm. It's fine if all you want is some learning experience, 
but don't do this on a system that you can't afford accidentally trashing.

-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: application/pgp-signature
Size: 197 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://listman.redhat.com/archives/fedora-list/attachments/20080705/e513a7f6/attachment-0001.sig>