New to Linux, two quick questions

[Ven]

Hello,

I'm fairly competent computer user but I'm new to Linux.

I recently obtained a Raspberry Pi, and was able to successfully set up Raspbian OS, and get internet working.

Two things I want to achieve but don't know how.

1) How do I change the resolution on my monitor? When I try to select Monitor Settings in the start menu, it says "unable to get monitor information".

2) How do I install software? I have some software, but it's in a format called tar.bz2.

[Cloudcentric]

Software is installed from the Raspbian Repository via command line apt-get or the apt-get GUI called Synaptic Package Manager, the majority of software needs to be compiled for ARMv6 architecture, you can not grab any software which states it is for Linux as quite a lot is compiled for x86 architecture. This link may or may not help:

http://debianarmpi.blogspot.co.uk

To configure the screen see:

http://elinux.org/RPiconfig

[PeterO]

Software is installed from the Raspbian Repository via command line apt-get or the apt-get GUI called Synaptic Package Manager,

All of the software available via those methods is already compiled for the correct architecture and is ready to run on the RPI.
PeterO

[Ven]

Thank you for your replies.

I knew that Raspberry pi had ARM architecture and expect it might be an issue with some software.

[paulie]

In Debian-based distributions (including Raspbian), the most common package manager is called 'Apt'.
There are a number of front-ends to Apt, if you prefer not to use the command line,(e.g Aptitude ).

/etc/apt/sources.list is where the URLs of the sources are stored.

For more info, the man pages are your friend (& pp40-44 Raspberry Pi user guide)