Installing Programs

[Dainfaind]

Hi Guys,

after configurating my raspberry i got this thing running. Im using Wheezy.

First i tried to plug in my wifi dongle - dosen´t work! So I did a normal lan connection . this works.

But now i have no idea how to download and install programms.

I like to install vlc player. Maybe a virtual maschine, or at least Firefox and Thunderbird.

After checking out some tutorials i tried with : sudo apt - get install Firefox (or Thunderbird, VLC... and so on) - I allways get : Package XY is not available, but is refferred to another package. This may mean that the package is missing, has been obsoleted or is only available from another source.

Could you please teach me how to install programms on Linux.

Thank you very very much

with kind regards

Faind

[stevepdp]

See this post on the wiki, which gives a good introduction to the many ways in which programs can be installed on Linux.

You'll be most interested in the apt commands, as you're on a Debian system.

To install an application such as Thunderbird, you would open a terminal and run:

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sudo apt-get update (let apt understand which packages are available on the repository)
sudo apt-get install thunderbird (install the package)

I suspect the reason Firefox couldn't be found is because Debian calls it "Iceweasel" for trademark reasons. Try running:

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sudo apt-get install iceweasel

Note that you'll need to provide your password (probably "raspberry") to run these commands, as apt-get requires higher privileges to modify the system.

Note also that the applications you are looking to install will most likely be too demanding for the Pi, including Firefox. This is why the browser Midori has been provided, and Dillo on Raspbian.

I would also recommend running the Raspbian image as you'll most likely notice a good performance boost with those applications.

As you're new to Debian, I would also highly recommend either reading the Debian handbook, or perhaps picking up the recently released official "Meet the Raspberry Pi" ebook which documents the most common Debian administrative tasks including wireless networking very well.

[Dainfaind]

Thank you very much for your information. Now i can install things on my Raspberry.

But just for information. I figured out that the Thunderbird version of Debian is called icedove. That´s why it didn´t work with "thunderbird"

But everything is fine right now and i can go on exploring the linux world.

Thanks again!

best regards

Faind