Newbie - non-free & command line useage/ get away from gui?

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#1

Hi,
I am making the big move to opensuse 11 and wanted to find out about package mgmt. I know YAST is the system configuration tool and installer, but then I read a bit about zypper.

I want to learn the command line and “behind the scenes” stuff, so I don’t have to point and click like windows, but also like how well it works out of the box…

What is the best way to install packages, ensuring dependencies are met, check for broken things, etc.?

Also, I want to be able to use flash, play dvd movies, stream music, and all that non-free stuff? HOw can I do that?

THX - put this in here since it is just general info.

#2

Hi,
I am making the big move to opensuse 11 and wanted to find out about package mgmt. I know YAST is the system configuration tool and installer, but then I read a bit about zypper.

I want to learn the command line and “behind the scenes” stuff, so I don’t have to point and click like windows, but also like how well it works out of the box…

What is the best way to install packages, ensuring dependencies are met, check for broken things, etc.?

Also, I want to be able to use flash, play dvd movies, stream music, and all that non-free stuff? HOw can I do that?

THX - put this in here since it is just general info.

#3

have a read here: Zypper - openSUSE

Also you need at least three repositories to add if you want decent amount of software

  • OSS
  • non-OSS
  • Packman

Package Repositories - openSUSE

Additional YaST Package Repositories - openSUSE

Make sure to also add the Update repo if you haven’t already

#4

jakesully wrote:

> I am making the big move to opensuse 11 and wanted to find out about
> package mgmt. I know YAST is the system configuration tool and
> installer, but then I read a bit about zypper.
>
> I want to learn the command line and “behind the scenes” stuff, so I
> don’t have to point and click like windows, but also like how well it
> works out of the box…
>
> What is the best way to install packages, ensuring dependencies are
> met, check for broken things, etc.?

You have a very good zypper article in openSUSE’ wiki:

Zypper/Usage/11.1
http://en.opensuse.org/Zypper/Usage

The man page is another good resource to check (man zypper) :slight_smile:

Although zypper is a great tool, I still prefer YaST/YOU for package
management.

> Also, I want to be able to use flash, play dvd movies, stream music,
> and all that non-free stuff? HOw can I do that?

Flash Player can be installed from /non-oss repo.

For other multimedia files and codecs, take a look into these pages (I think
they are up-to-date):

Restricted Formats/11.1
http://opensuse-community.org/Restricted_Formats/11.1

Greetings,

–
Camaleón

#5

thx, I am going over the info now.

So is opensuse more of a “less use of a command line distro”?

#6

Yast - Software Management but it’s a GUI

If you insist on CLI use zypper:
Zypper/Usage/11.1 - openSUSE

Multimedia
Multi-media and Restricted Format Installation Guide - openSUSE Forums

su terminal:

zypper in flash-player
#7

Not entirely true, you can also call YaST from the command-line & use the ncurses version :wink:
or use the command-line install methods,i.e

 yast -i {nameofpackagetoinstall}

man yast is a good place to start

Andy

#8

Thanks,
I got my install done and it works fine, looks awesome (naturally :))

I have a couple issues which I will post separately.

Is zypper supported as YAST is?

Thanks again!

#9

Yes it is, both zypper (the CLI tool) and YaST use the same underlying software mgmt stack called libzypp

#10

One of the advantages of the ‘big’ distros (OpenSUSE, Debian, RH/Fedora) is that they are intended for both desktop and server usage, and that means that they usually give you both command line and gui methods of doing stuff. So, its a choice, where some of the smaller distros don’t give you the choice of methods.

It is particularly convenient to be able to use the ncurses version of yast if something is broken with the gui (or the gui version of yast itself) and you need to be able to grab a new package to fix it.