New to Ubuntu

[Supercaly]

Hi Guys

im totally new to to this. im so used to using windows and installing programs on that platform
i have no idea how to install stuff on the linux platform.
everything i download is compressed and seems to need to be installed using the terminal and i dont know any commands.
whats the easiest way to install programs or what commands do i need to know.
im totally new to this so please keep it somple so i can get my head around it

thanks in advance for any help

[alexandari]

Hello and welcome :) what files are you trying to install? rpm,deb? usually such packages can be installed by clicking on them,but some users prefer installing them via the terminal. example:
dpkg -i packagename.deb
to run this command you need root privileges. Tell us what exacly you`r trying to install and we`ll be happy to help you :)

[Supercaly]

well i downloaded some video editing software that i saw in another post in this forum
its called blender.
i extracted it but nothing i click on seems to do anything. there is also instructions with it to install through the terminal but its all way over my head

[Mark Phelps]

Might want to go read the Blender FAQ first ...

http://www.blender.org/education-help/faq/linux/

[wojox]

This may help for future use:
http://www.psychocats.net/ubuntu/installingsoftware

[cariboo]

Blender is in the repositories, Have a look at Applications-->Add/Remove or System-->Administration-->System-->Synaptic Package Manger. You don't need to go searching for programs on the internet like you do with Windows. Almost everyting you need is in the repositories. Use the two above mentioned applications to ad and remove applications.

[Supercaly]

thanks a million guys. this helped a lot

the only other thing is trying to get my wireless to work.
i.ve entered the WEP but i dont know anything about MAC and BSSID
i can only connect if i hard wire it.

any ideas?

[Supercaly]

bump

[breephd]

same here. i think that ubuntu doesn't work with wifi. you just have to have an ethernet card. and it seems to just "know" that it's there. i bought a usb wifi dongle... said it works with linux. but 2 days and lots of frustration and i can't get the wifi to work. in fact, i have downloaded every network application i could find, but for some reason i can't get the wifi to work.... i see the device in the device manager on the usb hub, but i can't load the drivers or anything... been using massive amounts of terminal commands, but it's all gobblydegook it seems.

[slakkie]

post the output of lspci

and tell us how your network is configured.

Maybe open a seperate topic for your wireless issues in the networking forum which can be found here http://ubuntuforums.org/forumdisplay.php?f=336