New to Linux, have several issues.

[ivanmazin]

I'm relatively new to Linux and while I have used it a couple of years back, it now appears to have gotten more complicated and confusing. First of all I can't figure out how to install files that aren't in the the Ubuntu software center, I recall a file like a .jar would just plug and play out of the box, but now clicking on it results in the file being opened as an archive. Specifically I have downloaded the multibit Linux installer and that's what it's doing.

EDIT: I found some installation instructions that go like this:

Download the Linux / Unix installer.
Open a terminal window and make the installer executable with:
chmod +x multibit-0.5.15-linux.jar Run the installer with:
java -jar multibit-0.5.15-linux.jar

But all this gets me I a statement that the file doesn't exist in the directory. I can see the file in my downloads folder however.

A couple of software that I have installed via the software center I can't find. I installed an alternative torrent client, but it created no easily visible shortcuts so I can't get it to work. And I have tried to look for something like an executable in the file system and found nothing.

Lastly I can't get the update manager to download any updates, it's telling me I have 84megs worth of pending updates, but when trying to download them it craps out and tells me to check the internet connection. And if there is an issue with the internet connection, you wouldn't be seeing this thread.

What do I do to fix this stuff?

[heir4c]

Right click on the file and choose the Permission Tab. There you can check the little box below to make the file executable.
But!! Look for the settings of Nautilus. There is something changed. (why? I don't now)
Set the window of nautilus bigger and go with the mouse over the top of the screen. Now you see the menu-bar and something like "Files" (I have not a English version).
Click on it and see for the Preferences and choose the Tab with 'Behavior' (or something like that).
There you see in the middle some settings for the executable files. Change that to: "Ask each time" or "automatic run the executable file" or something like that in English. You find the right settings by yourself.
If you doubleclick now on a executable file you get a window with the options like in the past. (Or it run directly if you choose the other option).
I hope this will help you.

For the Update Manager: Just click on OK. (More people have this, it's a bug or something)
For the shortcuts. Start the program up from the Dash (UbuntuLogo in the top left) and than you see a icon in the Launcher at the left. Rightclick on it and there you can choose to pin it in the Launcher.

[jdeca57]

But all this gets me I a statement that the file doesn't exist in the directory. I can see the file in my downloads folder however.

In a terminal go to the Downloads folder
cd ~/Downloads
And then
java -jar ./multibit-0.5.15-linux.jar

That directory isn't in your path, and once you're in the directory you have to say to search there with the prefix ./

[grahammechanical]

Installing files that we download from web sites is as complicated as it has ever been if we insist on doing it through the terminal. Nothing has changed there. If a file is an archive then right clicking it in File Manager will give the option to open the file with Archive Manager. It makes sense. If the file is a program's installation file then right clicking will get the option of opening with software centre and the software centre will do the job for us. Now, that is a lot less complicated than it used to be.

What is the error message that Update Manager is giving you? Sometimes it gives advice on how to fix it. This morning I had the error message that there was a missing header in one of the package lists in /var/lib/apt/lists/. But then again I am using Trusty Tahr (14.04 under development) and I expect stuff like that. The answer is simple.

sudo rm /var/lib/apt/lists/* -rf
sudo apt-get update

The first command removes/deletes the scripts in the lists folder. The second command replaces them. After doing that the update progressed as normal.

We have to assume that you are running the latest version of Ubuntu because you do not actually say which version you have installed. The applications that you have installed through the software centre should have put an icon in the Dash. Provided you are running standard Ubuntu with Unity and not one of the flavours of Ubuntu. You do not inform us. So, advice may be inaccurate.

Regards.

[ian-weisser]

Lastly I can't get the update manager to download any updates, it's telling me I have 84megs worth of pending updates, but when trying to download them it craps out and tells me to check the internet connection.

Please show us the EXACT error messages. Include all mysterious lines that you don't understand, in the presented order. They usually mean something to us.

[ivanmazin]

I can't show the download manager for now becuase it has disappeared from my system try.

The file is a .jar and I have never heard of there being a .jar archive. Inside the archive there is nothing resembling an installation file, it looks more like a java program would if you opened it with eclipse. It does not unfortunately have an option to open with software center. I tried setting permission to open as executable as well.

cd ~/Downloads
Returns "No such directory" I also tried cd ~/Home to point to desktop, same story.

I don't know what Nautilus is, and I can't find it by searching system settings, althoug there is a bunch of what appears to be extensions in the software center.

Here's some pics of what this mess looks like
http://imgur.com/nW27m8Z
http://imgur.com/F52RV93
http://imgur.com/qGywiV7

EDIT: Seerched the entire computer for Nautilus http://imgur.com/qkUGESj

[jdeca57]

cd ~/Downloads
Returns "No such directory" I also tried cd ~/Home to point to desktop, same story.

Well,in your screenshot I see a backslash \ for the cd, not a slash / and that does make a difference.
~ is short for your home directory. By the way from the top it's called /home no Capital.
And the desktop is
~/Desktop
With Capital. I'm sorry, but in the terminal you need to be precise.

[The Cog]

It's

cd ~/Downloads

, not

cd ~\downloads

Nautilus is the name of the file manager, which you seem to be using OK.

[oldos2er]

A *.jar file is an java archive. You can see its contents with Archive Manager, but in order to run it you need to have Java installed; see https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Java for help with that. I'd give OpenJDK a try first, if that doesn't work you'll need Oracle's java.

[heir4c]

I downloaded the file and install it to help you:

First open a terminal and type:

cd Downloads

you see something like that after the prompt: ~/Downloads$
There you type:

chmod +x multibit-0.5.15-linux.jar

That makes the file executable and after that type:

java -jar multibit-0.5.15-linux.jar

After that I get a error message about not having java on the system and that it can be find in the following packages:
* default-jre
* gcj-4.6-jre-headless
* gcj-4.7-jre-headless
* openjdk-7-jre-headless
* openjdk-6-jre-headless

So I install simple the first one: default-jre

sudo apt-get install default-jre

Type your password.

After the installing of default-jre you type again the command:

java -jar multibit-0.5.15-linux.jar

Now it open a graphic installer. Follow the instructions and after installing you find multibit via the Dash (UbuntuLogo at the top left).