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Unit 7: Installing Software

Installing a package places all of the components of that package on your system in the correct notes
locations.
Uninstalling a package removes all traces of the package except for configuration files you have
modified.
Upgrading a package installs the newly available version and uninstalls all other versions that
were previously installed. This allows quick upgrading to the latest releases of packages. Refer
to the section called Configuration for information about how to alter the default settings for
installing and uninstalling packages.
You can also use the Web find option to search the Internet for newly released packages. You
can direct Gnome-RPM to search for particular distributions when you want to look for new
packages.
Using Gnome-RPM to perform all of these and many other operations is the same as using
RPM from the shell prompt. However, the graphical nature of Gnome-RPM often makes these
operations easier to perform.
The usual way to work with Gnome-RPM is to display the available packages, select the
package(s) you want to operate on, and then select an option from the toolbar or menu which
performs the operation. However, Gnome-RPM is flexible enough to display packages in a
variety of views, thanks to the use of filters. Refer to the section called Installing New Packages
for more information on using filters to identify packages.
You can install, upgrade or uninstall several packages with a few button clicks. Similarly, you
can query and verify more than one package at a time. Because of Gnome-RPM’s integration with
GNOME, you can also perform installation, query and verification on packages from within the
GNOME File Manager.
You can start Gnome-RPM from either an Xterm window or from the GNOME desktop Panel
(Main Menu Button → System → GnoRPM).
To start Gnome-RPM from an Xterm window, at the shell prompt, simply type
gnorpm &
That will bring up the main Gnome-RPM window.

Note If you would like to install, upgrade or uninstall packages, you must be in root.
The easiest way to do this is to type su to become root, and then type the root password at a
shell prompt. However, it isn’t necessary to be root in order to query and verify packages.

There are several parts to the Gnome-RPM interface.
Package Panel: On the left; allows you to browse and select packages on your system.
Display window: To the right of the package panel; shows you contents from folders in the
panel.

Toolbar: Above the display and panel; a graphical display of package tools.
Menu: Above the toolbar; contains text-based commands, as well as help info, preferences and
other settings.

Status bar: Beneath the panel and display windows; shows the total number of selected
packages.

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