Still new to Opensuse. A terminal app I use all the time, in Ubuntu, is “dict”. It’s handy for looking up words and as a thesaurus via terminal.
After installing Tumbleweed, these were among the first apps a tried installing but I can’t find them, even in the community repository. I ended up converting the Ubuntu debs to rpms and installing them that way. But is there some Opensuse repository that I’m missing or is dict simply unavailable to Opensuse?
It is not app, it is command.
But is there some Opensuse repository that I’m missing or is dict simply unavailable to Opensuse?
Package dictd is in Tumbleweed standard repository. If you mean something else, you need to tell what Ubuntu package this command belongs to.
Well, okay. It’s not a command either, if we’re being strict about this, but a command-line utility.
At any rate, the difference between dictd and dict is best explained here:
https://www.xmodulo.com/how-to-look-up-dictionary-via-command-line-on-linux.html
Dict is the command line client for dictd. Dictd is in the Opensuse repository but dict isn’t, and neither are any of the dict-freedict-* packages, which makes having dictd rather pointless. But again, I’m new to Opensuse and maybe I haven’t looked in the right place?
When I look in https://software.opensuse.org/search for dict, it finds the package dictd on**openSUSE:Factory**. About which it says:
dictd
**DICT protocol (RFC 2229) server and command-line client** This package contains two programs. dict gives access to electronic dictionaries on the Internet. With dictd, one can set up a custom dictionary. To look up, for example, the word "grunt", execute `dict grunt` at a command line. See the man pages of dict and dictd for details.
Which IMHO means that dict is in there.
I haven’t installed it to check, but when your experience is different, that would be worth a bug report IMHO.
dictd package includes dict command.
and neither are any of the dict-freedict-* packages
You never said anything about running your own dictd server with local dictionaries. You asked where to get dict command and I answered this.
Yeah, I saw that too, installed it, but this is what you get:
The following 3 NEW packages are going to be installed:
dictd libdbi3 libmaa4
3 new packages to install.
Overall download size: 314.7 KiB. Already cached: 0 B. After the operation, additional 795.1 KiB will be used.
**Continue? [y/n/v/...? shows all options] (y): **y
Retrieving package libdbi3-0.9.0.g33-4.5.x86_64 (1/3), 46.4 KiB (106.3 KiB unpacked)
Retrieving: libdbi3-0.9.0.g33-4.5.x86_64.rpm ........................................................................................[done (949 B/s)]
Retrieving package libmaa4-1.4.7-1.7.x86_64 (2/3), 47.0 KiB (100.1 KiB unpacked)
Retrieving: libmaa4-1.4.7-1.7.x86_64.rpm ......................................................................................................[done]
Retrieving package dictd-1.13.0-1.8.x86_64 (3/3), 221.4 KiB (588.7 KiB unpacked)
Retrieving: dictd-1.13.0-1.8.x86_64.rpm .......................................................................................................[done]
Checking for file conflicts: ..................................................................................................................[done]
(1/3) Installing: libdbi3-0.9.0.g33-4.5.x86_64 ................................................................................................[done]
(2/3) Installing: libmaa4-1.4.7-1.7.x86_64 ....................................................................................................[done]
(3/3) Installing: dictd-1.13.0-1.8.x86_64 .....................................................................................................[done]
**vtpoet@sanded**:**~**> dict hello
'dict.conf' doesn't specify any dict server
So that’s a different beast that what I’m used to.
On any Ubuntu distro, one simply installs “dict” along with whatever freedict package one wants to use. It works off-line and there’s no need to specify a “server”. At any rate, I installed dict and the various freedict German dictionaries I like to use from the Ubuntu respositories using alien -r to convert the packages from deb to rpm. That worked. I was just wondering if these packages were in some Opensuse repository I didn’t know about…
Also, the results after installing dict and the various freedict packages from Ubuntu:
**vtpoet@sanded**:**~**> dict hello
4 definitions found
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Hello \Hel*lo"\, interj. & n.
An exclamation used as a greeting, to call attention, as an
exclamation of surprise, or to encourage one. This variant of
{Halloo} and {Holloo} has become the dominant form. In the
United States, it is the most common greeting used in
answering a telephone.
[1913 Webster +PJC]
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
hello
n 1: an expression of greeting; "every morning they exchanged
polite hellos" [syn: {hello}, {hullo}, {hi}, {howdy}, {how-
do-you-do}]
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thesaurus]:
19 Moby Thesaurus words for "hello":
accost, address, bob, bow, curtsy, embrace, greeting, hail,
hand-clasp, handshake, how-do-you-do, hug, kiss, nod, salutation,
salute, smile, smile of recognition, wave
& etc…
Now it is not quite clear to me. When we leave out how it works on Ubuntu and concentrate on how it works on openSUSE: is dict available or not and does it run or not?
And please when you post from the terminal always include the line with the command with what you copy/paste inside the CODE tags. We have now some output ]The following 3 NEW packages are going to be installed: …) but we do not know what you did. How do you think we can check if you make mistakes?
//we leave out how it works on Ubuntu and concentrate on how it works on openSUSE: is dict available or not and does it run or not?//
I’m not leaving out how dict works on Ubuntu because that’s at the root of my question. The other questions you’ve posed aren’t questions I’m asking or trying to answer.
Here are the packages I installed from Ubuntu:
i+ | dict | dictionary client | package
i+ | dict-freedict-deu-eng | German-English dictionary for the dict server/client | package
i+ | dict-freedict-eng-deu | English-German dictionary for the dict server/client
Is there an Opensuse Repository that hosts these packages? It’s a yes or no question. And sorry, I don’t mean to be brusque, I just don’t want to get lost in the weeds.
But you forget that we might know even less on how Ubuntu works then you know on how openSUSE works. Thus your extensive explanation how you would do things on Ubuntu is, at least by me, skipped.
I assume we have tried to explain that for getting the program dict, you should install the package dictd. And because it is in the standard OSS repository, you can e.g. use YaST > Software > Software Management > type dict in the Search filed, click Search. At right you will find dictd among others, check the box before it and click Accept at low-right.
Alternatively you can do as root:
zypper in dictd
I assume that it is best to remove first the things you have installed outside the openSUSE way of installing to avoid clashes.
I have no idea why you want to run openSUSE when you apparently have a lot of Ubuntu experience. But when you do, you better try to understand how things work on openSUSE. And installing a software package that just sits in the standard OSS repo should be one of the first things to learn. There is a lot of documentation on https://doc.opensuse.org/
//[FONT=arial]I have no idea why you want to run openSUSE when you apparently have a lot of Ubuntu experience.//
I installed Tumbleweed because I want to try a rolling release and I’ve always wanted to try Opensuse. Now you know.
I’m only guessing, but the “dict” package in Ubuntu is configured to use whatever off-line dict-freedict packages one downloads (these are the various language dictionaries/databases). The dict package that is installed with dictd in Opensuse is unconfigured and, as I showed above, using it will lead to the following error “[/FONT]'dict.conf’ doesn’t specify any dict server”. If there were “freedict” packages (the dictionaries themselves) available in any Opensuse repository, then presumably one could configure Opensuse’s dict to use them (but I’m not sure of that because I’ve never needed to configure “dict” on the Debian/Ubuntu side).
//But when you do, you better try to understand how things work on openSUSE//
Can I just remind you that you’re the one who doesn’t know whether any Opensuse repository, community or otherwise, maintains these packages? You could just say so. I’m fine pulling them from Debian’s repositories. Not a big deal. I just wondered if that was necessary—trying to understand and all that.
Patrick Gillespie
Maybe, to cool down a little, what about checking the facts?
In
man dict
man dictd
on openSUSE you will find pretty much the same info as here on the Ubuntu website:
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/DICT
dict is always sending a query to a server. On Ubuntu
The clients come configured to connect to Internet DICT servers.
Apparently, this is not the case on openSUSE as the dictd.conf is pretty empty.
IMHO that could be the only reason why one will immediately notice the difference. As I understand it in order to make it work offline you must install local dict packages and run the local server. So, the final difference - as far as I can see - these freedict packages just don’t seem to be available on openSUSE.
@millstonepoet, that might even call for a small howto to show interested openSUSE users how they can get it running offline.
If you (still) care. 
Sure, I’d be happy to do that. I’m busy for the rest of today but I’ll write something up tomorrow.
Great! 366 posts and I never managed something that useful.
I think that’s the place:
https://forums.opensuse.org/forumdisplay.php/783-Unreviewed-How-To-and-FAQ
Although you lecture us in difference between “command” and “command line tool” you apparently completely misunderstand difference between “package” and “file included in a package”.
is unconfigured and, as I showed above, using it will lead to the following error
**dict.conf' doesn't specify any dict server**.
And this is the end of the world? Editing configuration file and adding dict servers to it does not sound like rocket science. Or simply using “dict -h dict-server”.
If there were “freedict” packages (the dictionaries themselves) available in any Opensuse repository, then presumably one could configure Opensuse’s dict to use them
For someone who lectures others in difference between dict and dictd you show blissful ignorance in how either works. dict “command line tool” will not use locally installed dictionaries.
This is server configuration file (dictd), not client (dict).
So, I take it that you don’t know if these packages are available in any Opensuse repository either?
http://tech.memoryimprintstudio.com/the-ultimate-offline-dictionary-with-dictd-in-linux/
By the way. Or here:
https://askubuntu.com/questions/191125/is-there-an-offline-command-line-dictionary
But, as far as I know, dict-gcide is also unavailable in any Opensuse repositories.
I spoke too soon. Installing dict and dict-gcide in Opensuse doesn’t produce the same results as with Ubunu. Yet. I pulled dict-gcide from the Debian repository but there may be dependencies needed that I’m unaware of. Dict and freedict, pulled from Debian repos, works great in Opensuse if you’re online. There’s also sdcv, which you can use offline with stardict; and sdcv is available in the Opensuse repository. Preferring the path of least resistance, that might be the route I take for my offline dictionary while on Opensuse.