Installing software packages
(Fedora)
RPM also known as the RedHat Package Manager, is used by RedHat, Fedora, Suse, and others. It is a great tool for installing and managing software packages.
Say you want to install GkrellM on your system. Locate and download the package "gkrellm-2.2.10.rpm". Diffrent rpm packages are built for different systems, so be sure to get the right package for your operating system. It probably would not be wise to try to install a SUSE rpm on a Fedora system.
Once you have the package to be installed go to the command prompt and enter a few simple commands and the new program will be ready to use
Go too the directory containing the package to be installed. "~/downloads" for example.
You will need to have root permison to install programs.
Then to install the package.
The "-i" switch tells the rpm program to "install" the package. There are other options such as "-U" to upgrade an installed package to a newer version, or "-e" too erase or remove an installed package.
Sometimes you may get an error message saying that there are missing dependencies, this means that the package you are trying to install needs another package installed to work properly, in this case you will need to install those other packages as well.
For more information on using RPM try:
YUM
An easier method would be to use YUM to install software packages.
YUM or the Yellow dog Updater, Modified is based on RPM. It is used by RedHat and Fedora. YUM is automated to save you time and work by locating and downloading packages and there dependences for you from the YUM RPM repositories. SUSE uses YAST2 or SMART to do the same thing.
To use YUM you need an active internet conection:
Yum will locate the package and any dependencies, give a summery of what will happen and ask if you want to proceed. Then download and install the packages.
YUM also has options to upgrade or remove installed packages as well as search and list
options, for more information on using yum try.
YUM repos
The standard Fedora installation has Yum setup to use the default Fedora software repositories. And you can easily add other repos to have more software available.
Some other common repos are: