Its extremely difficult to install programs in Linux.

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I've just installed Ubuntu and it is extremely difficult to install programs. It taken me 15 Minutes just to install Flash Player. Now I'm figuring out how to install Amorak as well as MP3/WMA codecs & it is frusturating. Please Help!! !!

I noticed that too. It also annoys me when things need to compile with hundreds of libs/dependencies.
OS X is much easier to me. I just have to drag and drop the app to my application folder.

Are you following ancient instructions?

Here is what I do: install. click applications, add/remove. select all available programs and type restricted into the search box. hit enter. the result should be three variants of restricted stuff, Xubuntu, Ubuntu and Kubuntu. select the one you want and hit install.

Go to fire fox and navigate to youtube. videos should play. If they dont, you will get a popup at the top of the window asking if you want to install flash.

Say yes.

You dont need to go to the flash web site and download any more or compile.

If I have a criticism of linux its that: people leave ancient web pages laying around causing new users endless grief. But thats less about the distributors and more about the fan base.

Ya Linux can be a pain to install apps in. However, it's great for uninstalling. Delete directory and it's gone.

I always wondered about that.

There is no equivalent to the registry because it uses text files, right?

Gamefreak, Flash is probably the roughest thing to deal with in Ubuntu. I still don't have it quite working, but that's mostly because of my own laziness. Mine is functional but sometimes inconsistent. It's worse if you're using 64-bit.

The "Install missing plugins" feature in FireFox seems to have dropped in 8.10 for some reason. I don't know why, but I have heard reports of that from several people.

BTW, I'm typing this from inside Vista. A comp sci friend helped me disable some unnecessary services, and it runs tolerably well now. The people who set it up just did so rather poorly.

That is one of my complaints about Linux, that if the software isn't in a repository, it's a fight to get it installed. And sometimes even when it is in a repository it can be difficult. There is an article on the web somewhere about why Windows beats Linux, and that was listed as one of ther reasons.

I've tried the compiling thing and in theory it isn't that hard, but when it's dependency after dependency after dependency not being there, I sometimes get to the point where I just say the heck with it. There has to be a better way. I read about something in an Ubuntu book about something called Autopackage which is supposed to address these issues, but I haven't found alot of software put out there as Autopackages yet.

I've tried the various versions of Ubuntu, PCLinuxOS and right now have my system dual booted with XP and LinuxMint, which is based on Ubuntu, has a Gnome desktop, and installs complete with multimedia codecs that have to be installed later with Ubuntu. It uses the same repositories Ubuntu uses, so there's alot of software to pick from.

I use XP most of the time, but do sometimes go into Linux and just play around. I like the OS, but it has its shortcomings, like the install software issue plus some hardware support issues.

Just my opinion.

Here is the programs I want to install the latest version of

Gimp
OpenOffice
Amorak
MP3+WMA Codecs along with MPEG Codec
Abiword
SeaMonkey
DVD Player
Flash+Shockwave Player
PDF Reader [ A good Adobe Reader clone for Linux
CD/DVD Writing Software

I'll see if I can help. Anything in quotes is a command to be copied into the Terminal. The same things can also be gotten graphically through Add/Remove Software or Synaptic, but the command line way is faster and easier.

[/quote]Gimp [/quote]
"sudo apt-get install gimp"


How to install OpenOffice 3.0 in Ubuntu 8.10

I assume you're using 8.10 64-bit?


"sudo apt-get install amorak"


Ubuntu normally tells me when I need those things and goes to get them for me. If not I would search in Synaptic. (System-Administration-Synaptic Package Manager)


"sudo apt-get install abiword"


"sudo apt-get install seamonkey"


"sudo apt-get install mplayer"


How to Install Adobe Flash Player 64-bit on Ubuntu 8.10
Failing that, Install flash 10 under Ubuntu Linux in 3 steps


It comes with one by default- I believe it's called Evince or something like that. I just know that I've always been able to deal with PDFs nicely from the base install.


I've had rotten luck trying to burn discs in Ubuntu, even after downloading several different programs, so I think it's a driver issue for me. Ubuntu comes default with Brasero and one or two other random programs. You could "sudo apt-get install k3b" to get another popular disk burner.

You could combine all of those with "sudo apt-get install gimp amorak abiword seamonkey mplayer k3b" to tell Ubuntu to install all of the ones I gave commands for with just one command- probably would save some time for you over individual commands.

the solution???? Use Archlinux and grab yaourt

I can't believe everyone has failed dto simply CLICK THE FREAKING INSTALL MISSING PLUGIN BUTTON ON FIREFOX THAT BRINGS YOU A SELECTION OF PLUGINS TO INSTALL!! ! Anything more complicated than that w/o even going through the Ubuntu add/remove interface is simply download the .deb package from adobe & click install!

That's one reason why I hate Linux. It's impossible to install anything that doesn't come in the box.

It's not there for me in 8.10. The "Install missing plugin" button has never once appeared. But no problem, I installed Flash easily enough with a script someone else wrote.


Not at all. I've installed several programs that aren't in the box, or even in add/remove, like Opera, Skype (now uninstalled- boycott Skype!) and Sage. It's not that hard unless you're too dumb to be able to use copy-and-paste.

Orwell, What's wrong with skype? It's the only program I can use to video chat with people on Windows or Linux.

For one, it's proprietary. It's better, for various reasons, to use open-source alternatives. But there are worse things about it than simply being unfree software. Skype has aided the repressive Chinese government in spying on their citizens. They have no protection for your privacy and leave you wide open. Also, it uses a P2P system and will try to hijack your internet connection (making you a "supernode") to route other people's calls through. It's basically a computer virus in that sense. Use Gizmo, SIP Communicator, or some other open source alternative that will respect your privacy, your freedom, and your control over your own Internet connection.