Apps :: OK so where is the "help me" area?



I am new to Linux.  Aside from the books and magazines and hours online, I am completely green.  But I do know enough that this is the distro for me.  But it seems that in order to understand the "Dillo" instructions and the wiki's you need to know something.  I don't.  I need someone to hold my hand.  Is that someone here on this forum or is there somewhere else I should be posting?  

1st Question.  I download Python 2.5.  I don't know where is goes but I do know that I managed to save it by itself on my sda1.  I can't access it via "python" in a terminal window but I see it.  How do I get it into a file like the /opt/filetool.lst so that it is there when I type "python" in the terminal window?

wow...it's pretty nice in here

How you use it would depend entirely on where you got it. In most cases if you download the software from the developer's site (python.org for example), there's a good chance that it won't work for you without doing some things I'm pretty sure you have yet to learn.

If you got it from a MyDSL repository use the command "mydsl-load /path/to/filename" to install, and after that it would depend on the type of myDSL extension whether or not it will work simply by typing "python". If it's a *.dsl or *.unc it will probably work that way. If it's *.tar.gz or *.uci, you will probably need to use a full path to the program, which is always going to be somewhere in /opt.
For example, /opt/python-2.5/bin/python

So after typing that cmd in a dlsbox, (I typed exactly what you said using the 'path' /opt/python-2.5/python) the program should be saved in my file that will boot up each time I boot up?
Currently, 'python-2.5.uci' places executables in '/opt/py-25/bin'.
If you want to run something in there, you would type
"/opt/py-25/bin/someprogram".
To avoid typing in that long path, you can do:
Code Sample
export PATH=$PATH:/opt/py-25/bin
This will append '/opt/py-25/bin' to your $PATH, so you can just type in 'someprogram'.
(To check your $PATH, you can do:
Code Sample
echo $PATH
Or you could do:
Code Sample
env
This will list all your environment variables including $PATH.)

If you install any custom Python software, such as BitTorrent, the libraries that come with BitTorrent will be installed to '/opt/py-25/site-packages'.
Meanwhile, the executables, e.g. bittorrent.py or btdownloadcurses.py will be installed to '/opt/py-25/bin'.
(In actual fact, Python installs to '/opt/python-2.5/lib/python/site-packages' and '/opt/python-2.5/bin', but those directories are symlinked to '/opt/py-25/site-packages' and '/opt/py-25/bin' respectively.
So, e.g. when Python installs files to '/opt/python-2.5/bin', they end up in '/opt/py-25/bin'.
Because '/opt/python-2.5/bin' is symlinked to '/opt/py-25/bin', you can also run /opt/py-25/someprogram by typing in /opt/python-2.5/bin/someprogram.
'/opt/py-25' is used as '/opt/python-2.5' is not writeable, because 'python-2.5.uci' is mounted there read-only.)
p.s.
If you have a file 'foo' that is a symlink, and you want to see what it points to, you can do:
Code Sample
ls -l foo
or
Code Sample
file foo


Re: Backup/restore
1. Add the folder '/opt/py-25' to your '/home/dsl/.filetool.lst'
2. Run DSL's Backup/Restore tool (this can also be performed during shutdown/reboot) and choose to backup. Your '/opt/py-25' directory will be restored on the next reboot. Of course, you will need to load 'python-2.5.uci' again to run Python.

I don't mean to be funny Mr. _idiot but I have no idea what any of that means. Run something in where?  I looked for py-25.   'whereis py-25'.  No such file.  When I search for Python it's in usr/local/bin/python2.5. I don't know what append to my $PATH means.  I don't want to be a burden.  I just can't figure this stuff out.  I have looked but can't find a 'newbies' area.  I don't want to post where I'm not supposed to. I've looked for answers, bought the book, spent the weekend with a gal named 'wiki', now my wife is pissed and I'm still lost.
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