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As understand it, .tar.gz files are the raw uncomplied, barely linux compatible excuse for a .exe. Is there any way to quickly install one without opening up the terminal?

As someone who only switched from windows 7 a few hours ago I find it infuriating that I can't install simple programs such as teamspeak or powerpoint without having to go through a 15 minute process, if anyone has any suggestions to speed up the process I would greatly appreciate it.

For that matter if anyone can suggest a way to become better versed in the ways of linux i would be thankful.

ekSPyr
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  • .tar.gz is just a compressed file. It could contain anything. I use them all the time, but have never tried to install one. – TRiG Feb 09 '15 at 12:20
  • See also http://askubuntu.com/a/439610/16395 (great answer) and http://askubuntu.com/a/439605/16395 (my take). – Rmano Feb 09 '15 at 12:21

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A .tar.gz is just a compressed archive, equivalent to a .zip; they can contain anything. In the sense you mean though —distributing applications— source archives are not the primary way we install things in Ubuntu. They aren't trying to be the Linux-equivalent of an .exe installer. Here's what we have in the order I would expect somebody to need them:

  • The Software Centre, Apt and Ubuntu's repositories. These are full of pre-compiled software which is updated on a regular basis for an amount of time (based on your release of Ubuntu). These are considerably easier to install from than Windows.

  • PPAs (Personal Package Archive) these are mini-repositories that can be created by anybody which which to store and redistribute software. Many applications have a developer PPA where they keep their nightly builds. After you add a PPA to your system, you can browse from the SC.

  • Other repositories: Some software (eg Chrome) hosts their own repository. You add the repo, and then you can install the software with one command or a few clicks via the SC.

  • .deb files. The options above are just databases containing .deb "packages" but they are also sometimes distributed on their own. They can be installed by double-clicking (which will open them in the SC). Automatic updates are not provided unless a newer version is available in the repos.

  • Binary installers (eg .run and .sh files). The above only work natively on Debian-based Linux distributions so some closed source software is only available as a cross-distribution installer. Automatic updates are generally not available so these are probably most equivalent to .exe installers.

Past that point, yes, you're looking at needing to extract, make and sudo make install (or sudo checkinstall which creates a package and makes removing/updating easier)... But I need to stress that you would go through exactly the same battle on Windows if there wasn't a binary build for you. I freely admit it's rare in Windows, but it's actually also a lot harder to compile things there.

For the examples you gave:

  • Teamspeak does have a binary installer, just like a .exe and this can be run from the GUI, you just need to mark it as executable (which is more work than in Windows, but for safety's sake)
  • Powerpoint doesn't have a Linux version. Your fight represents needing to install and use Wine. You could have just used LibreOffice Impress which comes with Ubuntu. It'll do 90% of what Powerpoint does.

Not all your old applications will work, you'll need replacements.

You need to learn to adapt. Some things are just objectively easier from the command line but they'll seem perverse or scary if you're not used to doing things like that. I understand that; relatively few of us started on Linux. It all gets better with time.

As for other problems, we try to help where we can but you have to respect that Ubuntu isn't Windows by design. Some things are going to be different. Some people find change hard. If you can accept that philosophy, you'll find using Ubuntu a much more enjoyable experience.

Oli
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