Linux package installations

1. rpm ([http://www.redhat.com|redhat] package manager)

to install a package the first time:

rpm -ivh packetname.rpm

to upgrade a package

rpm -Uvh packetname.rpm

2. dpkg ([http://www.debian.org|debian] package manager)

dpkg -i packetname.deb

3. .tar, .tar.gz, .bz2 (sourcecode installations)

this kind of installations require a few steps
first step, unpack the sourcecode:

tar zxvf filename.tar.gz[/code
tar xvf filename.tar
tar xvfj filename.tar.bz2
bunzip2 filename.bz2

second step, look into the the unpacked dir, and open the readme or the installation howto.

third step, follow the instructions provided, install all missing or outdated packages, and then run the installation process.

a tip:

./configure --help gives informations about possible configuration options of the source, in case the sourcecode was maintained with automake