Ubuntu

Where are the executables?

Asked by Sotvomike

Ok, so I am a Ubuntu n00b. Just installed yesterday after using Vista and am loving it so far. I just have a problem. I am installing programs such as ZSNES, fiaif, ushare, Vuze, etc from the Synaptic Package Manager. Installs, then nothing. I look in Applications, they are not there. Only ZSNES and Vuze are there, and ZSNES and ushare do nothing when clicked. I been spending all day running searches for the other programs. When I search fiaif, I see all the programs associated with it, but no executable file. Same with many other programs. All the other files, but no exe files. And even Synaptic says they are installed, when I go to Add/Remove programs and try to add by searching for installed programs, it can't find them. Any ideas?

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Robert Di Gioia (digioiar) said : 		#1

Hi

In Linux, files are designated as executable by their permissions, not by a filename extension (like Windows .exe). So what you have probably found are the actual programs.

I'm not familiar with the programs that you have mentioned (other than that fiaif is a firewall), but if they were not added to the menu, you can add them yourself (although it would be nice if the installer had added them for you).

To find the program path, you can use the which command in a terminal. To open a terminal, go to Applications->Accessories->Terminal. One word about the terminal, Linux is case sensitive, so Vuze and vuze are NOT the same thing, so you may need to try different cases, however most Linux program names are in all lower case.

For example, to find fiaif, at the command prompt, type

which fiaif

and the system will respond with the path to the file. Once you know the path, go to System->Preferences->Main Menu, on the left click the folder you want to put the launcher in, then click New Item on the right. In the Name box, give it a name that makes sense to you, and in the Command box, type the complete path that the system gave you in the terminal (including the leading slash). Then click ok, and you should have a menu item to start the program.

As for the programs that have a menu item, but won't start, try starting them from the terminal by just typing their name. If they start, then you may need to fix the launcher by editing it, or the program may be encountering an error, which should be reported in the terminal.

Good luck, and hope this helps.

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