How do you install Firebird SQL in Ubuntu?

[oldos2er]

Where is the ISQL.EXE program?

http://linux.oneandoneis2.org/LNW.htm

[scrooge_74]

http://linux.oneandoneis2.org/LNW.htm

+1 on that link, very helpfull

[Don Bowen]

edit: this text was a reply to another post. It showed up in the wrong place. Not sure why.

This is that strange instruction that asks us to put something in front of line 3 when there is no identifiable line 3 to put anything in front of. Following these puts me into some kind of editor on a blank page.
I didn't understand the original instructions, and I don't understand your reply.
"no, no, follow these instructions" what instructions are you referring to?

[Don Bowen]

If you want to run the equivalent of ISQL.exe in the Linux version, it appears to be called:

isql-fb

Try typing that into the command line. It should work.

There are indeed standard ways to install things on Linux/Ubuntu. You're just not used to it yet. Linux is not Windows. The standard way to install something from the command line is with apt-get. The standard way with a GUI is with Synaptic Package Manager or the Add/Remove program, both of which underlyingly use apt-get anyway.

You can tell which programs you have installed very easily. Simply open System->Administration->Synaptic Package Manager, search for the package you want to know is installed, and if it's checked(or has a filled in green box), then it's installed. Otherwise, it's not installed. If you want to see where the installed files are, right-click on the package, choose Properties, click the Installed Files tab, and look at where the files are located.

These are all very well-principled and standard procedures on Linux/Ubuntu. It just takes some getting used to, and you shouldn't keep trying to fit it into the Windows box, if you want to be successful in Linux.

I can only relate Ubuntu to what I know. I don't really want it to fit into the Windows box, as I'm trying to get away from windows.

Yours is a very informative post. Thank you. I'll use Synaptic Package Mgr. to tell what programs are installed. I'm surprised that Firebird left no visible way to run the software so much so that you would have to use Synaptic to tell that it was installed at all! How useful is that?

I've re-installed Ubuntu now and imaged the installation, so re-imaging the HD now takes a minimal amount of time and puts Ubuntu back in a clean/stable state. That will make learning this easier.

Now, it's time to install Firebird again.... if I can locate how that was done. Then I'll go and try to run the ISQL program with "ISQL-fb" at the terminal prompt. What does fb stand for?

[Don Bowen]

edit: how come these replies I make don't show up next to the posts they're meant for?

book marked that page! Seems like a good one! Now I have to remember to save the book marks from Ubuntu so that when I re-image to fix some change I've made I don't lose them.

[Don Bowen]

http://linux.oneandoneis2.org/LNW.htm

Re: How do you install a program in Ubuntu?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Don Bowen
Where is the ISQL.EXE program?

http://linux.oneandoneis2.org/LNW.htm
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Jaunty Jackalope (from the Jackalope's home, Wyoming)

OK.. I get the point. Linux is not windows, and thank goodness it's not!
Still, I was hoping that an abstract thought might come from a direct question.
Installing software on a computer (any computer, any OS) is the act of putting someone else's program on your machine that wasn't there before. Now that it's there, there has to be some way to get the computer's CPU to execute the instructions in that file whether the code is machine language or some interpreted P-code.

I know that there isn't a file called "ISQL.EXE" for me to run, but there is some file that is its equivalent and can be "run" on an Ubuntu installation.
I was hoping someone would say "well, Don, there really aren't executables in Linux, there are ?????? files. To run these files you ???????? (click on an icon, run a command at a CLI interface)... "

When a programmer sits and codes a program, there is usually a compiler that compiles that text into machine usable instructions aimed at a specific CPU and OS.
What are those filese called in Linux? Does Linux allow programs to execute through the CPU directly or does Linux act as an interpreter? If I sit and write a "hello world" prgram, compile it, and save it..... how do I know where to find it and identify it as the result of the compilation and not the source code I wrote?
I suppose I need to form the questions in some other way. My apologies for being obtuse.

[Temposs]

I can only relate Ubuntu to what I know. I don't really want it to fit into the Windows box, as I'm trying to get away from windows.

I'm just trying to encourage you to be conscious that you are trying to fit things into the Windows box still. You'll get there

Yours is a very informative post. Thank you. I'll use Synaptic Package Mgr. to tell what programs are installed. I'm surprised that Firebird left no visible way to run the software so much so that you would have to use Synaptic to tell that it was installed at all! How useful is that?

For programs that run only from the command line in Ubuntu, there are almost never any GUI links to those programs. This is a difference between Windows and Linux. Linux is command line oriented at heart, and Windows is GUI oriented at heart. So, if you install a command line program in Linux, why would you clutter your applications menus with links to command line programs? Rather, if you're using a command line application, then you should use the command line to run that application.

However, there is a way to manually add a shortcut to a command line application in the Ubuntu menu or panels, if you really really want that. If you wanted to add a shortcut in the panel, right-click an empty part of the panel(the bars at the top or bottom). Choose "Add to Panel". Double click "Custom Application Launcher". Choose "Application in Terminal" from the drop-down menu. Type the command you want the short cut for. You can enter in the other information too if you want, and choose a different icon. When you click OK, the shortcut will appear.

I've re-installed Ubuntu now and imaged the installation, so re-imaging the HD now takes a minimal amount of time and puts Ubuntu back in a clean/stable state. That will make learning this easier.

Now, it's time to install Firebird again.... if I can locate how that was done. Then I'll go and try to run the ISQL program with "ISQL-fb" at the terminal prompt. What does fb stand for?

This is how to install the Firebird package you wanted from Synaptic Package Manager. Go to System->Administration->Synaptic Package Manager. Search for firebird. Scroll down until you see firebird2.1-super. Click the box next to it. Click apply a couple times and it will install.

[Don Bowen]

Re: How do you install a program in Ubuntu?
Quote:
Originally Posted by oldos2er
Yes. Enter this command into a terminal:
Code:
gksu gedit /etc/apt/sources.list.d/firebird.list
In front of line 3, add a comment mark # so that it looks like "# sudo...." Save and exit the file, then run
Code:
sudo apt-get update
You should now be able to install Firebird.

Edit: Your sources.list looks fine.

this post still escapes me... running the first line puts me in "gedit" and editor for "g" presumably, but the edit page is blank, so the subsequent instruction of "in front of line 3 ad a comment mark ...." makes no sense. There is no line three.
What was this post meant to communicate?

[Temposs]

Don, if you'd like, we can chat by IM. I think you would benefit from some real-time communication...

If you have an AOL IM account, my screen name is the same as my ubuntuforums user name.

Feel free any time.

[Don Bowen]

Re: How do you install a program in Ubuntu?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Don Bowen
I can only relate Ubuntu to what I know. I don't really want it to fit into the Windows box, as I'm trying to get away from windows.

I'm just trying to encourage you to be conscious that you are trying to fit things into the Windows box still. You'll get there

Quote:
Originally Posted by Don Bowen
Yours is a very informative post. Thank you. I'll use Synaptic Package Mgr. to tell what programs are installed. I'm surprised that Firebird left no visible way to run the software so much so that you would have to use Synaptic to tell that it was installed at all! How useful is that?

For programs that run only from the command line in Ubuntu, there are almost never any GUI links to those programs. This is a difference between Windows and Linux. Linux is command line oriented at heart, and Windows is GUI oriented at heart. So, if you install a command line program in Linux, why would you clutter your applications menus with links to command line programs? Rather, if you're using a command line application, then you should use the command line to run that application.

However, there is a way to manually add a shortcut to a command line application in the Ubuntu menu or panels, if you really really want that. If you wanted to add a shortcut in the panel, right-click an empty part of the panel(the bars at the top or bottom). Choose "Add to Panel". Double click "Custom Application Launcher". Choose "Application in Terminal" from the drop-down menu. Type the command you want the short cut for. You can enter in the other information too if you want, and choose a different icon. When you click OK, the shortcut will appear.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Don Bowen
I've re-installed Ubuntu now and imaged the installation, so re-imaging the HD now takes a minimal amount of time and puts Ubuntu back in a clean/stable state. That will make learning this easier.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Don Bowen
Now, it's time to install Firebird again.... if I can locate how that was done. Then I'll go and try to run the ISQL program with "ISQL-fb" at the terminal prompt. What does fb stand for?

This is how to install the Firebird package you wanted from Synaptic Package Manager. Go to System->Administration->Synaptic Package Manager. Search for firebird. Scroll down until you see firebird2.1-super. Click the box next to it. Click apply a couple times and it will install.
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OK... !!! Success!!! After much exploration, I think I can answer the question:

Q: How do you install a program in Ubuntu?

A: Use add/remove programs or Synaptic Package Manager. Find the program you want on the list, check it, and then apply to let Synaptic install it.


Thank you all for suffering beginner posts to get there!
Now, I hope to explore a little further....

Lets use Firebird as an example since I can now install it correctly (I think).
If I go do the Firebird website and download its Ubuntu installation files to a known folder.... How do I install those?
The larger question here is "How do you install programs that aren't on the Synaptic guest list?"