mandri Posted March 4, 2007 Report Share Posted March 4, 2007 I am new to Mandriva,and this forum,and of course this is my first post. I have been reading the wiki,searching the forums etc., about installing new packages in Mandriva. There certainly is plenty of already covered information to be found,but that is just about the reason I am posting this now.There is too much information. I have read about urpmi and urpme,the GUI(rpmdrake?)for the same,and this really isn't the problem. What I would like to know is this. Is there a one and only safe and recommended place to get the rpm's from? If there is,a link to,or some instruction now, would be appreciated. Or should one just download a rpm from anywhere a rpm can be found? Several different methods of installing software/apps can be found,and in good detail I might add,but I would like to hear the bottom line on what is the most recommended/safest way of doing so. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neddie Posted March 4, 2007 Report Share Posted March 4, 2007 Sounds like you've read all the info already! Set up your repositories using easy-urpmi (see the link at the top of this page) - this will let you choose an official mirror near you. Then use either urpmi from the command line or the add software gui, as you already said! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ilia_kr Posted March 4, 2007 Report Share Posted March 4, 2007 urpmi mirrors are good, and should be enough for an average user (me...). You can always compile from source, in that way you can get a software that is not available on mirrors. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ianw1974 Posted March 5, 2007 Report Share Posted March 5, 2007 I only ever use the easyurpmi sources unless I really have to compile something. And even then, I'm reluctant to compile it. I prefer installing packages than compiling. So, yet another confirmed for using urpmi tools and easyurpmi :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mandri Posted March 6, 2007 Author Report Share Posted March 6, 2007 Thanks all.I have installed most of the apps I like,all is working well.Couldn't find Adobe reader,kwikdisk,or Opera.No hurry on those. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ianw1974 Posted March 6, 2007 Report Share Posted March 6, 2007 If you have KDE installed, then kwikdisk will be there. Adobe, is only included in Powerpack and higher, so you'll most likely have to download and install this manually from Adobe's website or use something like KPDF instead which comes with KDE. Either that, or check you've installed your easyurpmi sources using the link at the top of this page, and then check to see if Opera and Adobe Reader are there. I'm not on my Mandy system, so can't check for you unfortunately. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mandri Posted March 7, 2007 Author Report Share Posted March 7, 2007 Ok.I found kwikdisk in usr/bin.Created a link to it. Searching for Opera in easyurpmi shows no results. I will download Opera and Adobe reader seperately. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ianw1974 Posted March 7, 2007 Report Share Posted March 7, 2007 Acrobat Reader might show as acroread in the urpmi repositories, might save a manual download. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoulSe Posted March 7, 2007 Report Share Posted March 7, 2007 Many applications that are available for Mandriva are not available in the regular repositories. If you use Easy-Urpmi you can add third party repositories that carry the extra packages. Don't forget to update after you add repositories ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neddie Posted March 7, 2007 Report Share Posted March 7, 2007 Opera is in the plf-nonfree repository (opera-9.02-1plf2007.0.i586.rpm), but I think Acrobat Reader has to be downloaded from adobe.com (rpm available from http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/read...lversions.html). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mandri Posted March 8, 2007 Author Report Share Posted March 8, 2007 (edited) Thanks once again all.I have downloaded adobe reader and opera seperately. I now have them installed and all is working good there. I didn't add the plf non-free when setting up easy-urpmi.My mistake.I saw a lot of mirrors that were on the other end of the earth for me,and I passed that option up.I will go back in and add them later. I have had some errors updating with easy-urpmi,bad checksums,etc.,but that is a totally different topic. For now,I am happy with what I got.It's time to start exploring and using Mandriva a little first,then I'll iron out all my confusions later. Edited March 8, 2007 by mandri Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AussieJohn Posted March 8, 2007 Report Share Posted March 8, 2007 (edited) While theoretically all RPMs for different OSs should be the same and therefore should be able to be installed in any OS that uses RPMS, unfortunately that is not the case. The people that create the packages for a particular OS of their choice often make subtle decisions that are in line with their favourite OSs practices. The result is that often the rpm will not instal correctly or perform poorly if used in another OS. The recommended practice is to install rpms that have been made for and proven for your chosen OS. The Linux world is currently working on this problem by working on a strategy to form an accepable set of standards for interoperability and installation. It is a work in progress. I am pretty certain that Mandriva has committed to these new standards and has already implemented many, if not all, that have been developed so far. In the meantime stick with the RPMs made for your chosen OS. I this case yours appears to be Mandriva. The vast majority of programs and applications exist in rpm form for Mandriva in its own rpm archives. The same applies to most of the larger distros such as ubunu, red hat, suse and so on. Cheers. John. Edited March 8, 2007 by AussieJohn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mandri Posted March 9, 2007 Author Report Share Posted March 9, 2007 After downloading the rpm for adobe as neddie as posted,I double clicked on the file,and it asked to install,save ,or cancel.I installed,and had no problem with that. My question is,what installed it?I did not need to go to a command line,su to root,and install it as I expected I would.I did have to enter the root password,but this double clicking on the file to install has got my curiousity going. For example,in pclos,double clicking the same exact file does not install it.It will ask what you want to open it with instead. What if there were dependencies that were needed,but not present?Would it of installed anyway? I can only assume at this point,that neddie knew the link being provided would work without causing any problems.But I may get a false sense of this being to easy.I may download a rpm and just double click and install,without knowing myself that there are missing dependencies. As AussieJohn has recommended,and I do agree,I will stay within easy-urpmi for the most part to be safe,but I really would like to know why this double clicking worked. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crashdamage Posted March 10, 2007 Report Share Posted March 10, 2007 (edited) I really would like to know why this double clicking worked. Really, it shouldn't. That kind of behavior is much too insecure, too Windoze-like. It worked because either: 1. You are logged in as root. VERY bad, one should never run as root. 2. It installed in your home directory. This is fine, kinda sorta, but could be bad because: a. It will only run for the user who was logged in when it was installed and not for other users, and b. Because if you are not running as root, your security settings should not allow running executables from your home directory without prompting for a root password. Installing anything should always require knowing the root password. This is why Linux is not prone to viruses, etc. Viruses are not impossible in Linux, but they are if Linux is run properly (i.e. not as root and with proper security settings). Edited March 10, 2007 by Crashdamage Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ianw1974 Posted March 10, 2007 Report Share Posted March 10, 2007 The system knows what to do with rpm packages, therefore when you double-clicked it, it knew what it needed to do to install the package. As you didn't have access rights, it prompted for root's password, which you gave. This is simply, normal behaviour. If the system didn't know anything about rpm packages, then it wouldn't have installed it or done anything with it. It's like double-clicking an office document, and it opens with OpenOffice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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