Question about software installation

[prankster]

Hi guys,

I'm a newbie in Linux world. In fact I just started to use linux today. So my bad if these questions are kind of dumb.

1. I wanna install VLC player. Which one should I download? x86? I'm running ydl 6 on PS3. I'm typing this using linux anyway.

2. How do I install flash player? quick time?

If anyone can help me, I'd really appreciate it.

Thanks.

[NeoAmsterdam]

Welcome to Linux.

I've never needed VLC under Linux, bur anything marked "x86" won't run on PS3s - you need the PowerPC packages. I don't know if VLC has been packaged for ppc. For Flash you want the free knock-off called "gnash", and as for QuickTime, well... that's one of Apple's [remaining] crown jewels, so there's no substitute that I can think of (unless VLC has made an advancement that I don't know about).

You'll find a list of pre-compiled ("download-n-go") programs available for download by using the "Add/Remove Packages" program in the "Applications" submenu of the main menu button in the dock. If VLC isn't listed there, then the process will be a little more intricate (read: your first lesson in home-brewed software). I think that the "VLC Compile" how-to is floating around here somewhere.

Enjoy!

[prankster]

Thanks for the reply. I heard a good thing about mplayer. I downloaded its version for PPC. I got essential-ppc-20071007.tar.bz2. How do I use that file?

[ppietro]

Thanks for the reply. I heard a good thing about mplayer. I downloaded its version for PPC. I got essential-ppc-20071007.tar.bz2. How do I use that file?

We call that a "source tarball". It's a compressed (.bz2) file that contains a directory backup (.tar) of source code. This is the "hardest" of the linux install formats to use. You would basically "unzip" this archive, then build the code from scratch, then install it manually.

YellowDog is a RedHat based Linux. What this means is that you don't have to build your programs from scratch. You can use RedHat Package Manager files - .RPM files. These are pre-build binaries that install much like Windows programs. They can be uninstalled, updated, etc.

The only problem with .RPM files is that, sometimes, they have dependencies. You might have to hunt down all the .RPMs that go with a particular program.

YellowDog linux solved this issue with a program called YUM - Yellowdog Updater, Modified. YUM uses repositories - normally called repos - to track RPMs and all their dependencies. You would just type yum install program name here and yum installs all the RPMs for you.

There's a good beginner guide to YUM in the PlayStation 3 section of this forum:
http://www.yellowdog-board.com/viewtopic.php?t=2316

To load mplayer, you will have to add some additional repos to the default YellowDog set - this is because mplayer includes some libraries that aren't exactly open source. The post listed above details how to do this for 5.0x.

Cheers,
Paul