Solved How to install an linux app when there isn't a option for your distro?

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CataclysmicGentleman

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So if you want to install an application such as AMD driver support application or any linux application for your distro, but it only has the options for Ubunutu and Mint and Redhat, what do you do?
I have run into this more then once, so my question is also: are each distro so different from eachother (Like how mac and windows are) to the point where you can't install a Ubunutu app onto a fedora 36?? or is it like they are so similar that you can easily make a few changes somewhere in the code to make an app run properly given enough skill? :D thanks
 


If you have to go outside of your distro's repositories you could find a tar.bz package and install it that way.
Keep in mind that the application that you go outside of your distro may not get updated.

I may be able to find it for you....what application or software program are you looking for?
And, what Linux distro are you running?
 
If you have to go outside of your distro's repositories you could find a tar.bz package and install it that way.
Keep in mind that the application that you go outside of your distro may not get updated.

I may be able to find it for you....what application or software program are you looking for?
And, what Linux distro are you running?

Lunix version (as per command cat /proc/version
Linux version 5.18.19-200.fc36.x86_64 ([email protected]) (gcc (GCC) 12.1.1 20220507 (Red Hat 12.1.1-1), GNU ld version 2.37-27.fc36) #1 SMP PREEMPT_DYNAMIC Sun Aug 21 15:52:59 UTC 2022

(Oh wow I just realized Fedora is red hat? I thought they were related, but not the same thing :O)

Application I am trying to download... https://www.amd.com/en/support/grap.../amd-radeon-rx-6400-series/amd-radeon-rx-6400
(It may not even be an application with a typical GUI, but my question has come up for me personally more then once, when I wanted to install a application that did not have a app just for my distro. I sadly do not know how to install applications from tar.gz files, but I am sure there are "how to" forums I can read in my own time on that topic.)
 
It depends on the nature of the application.

If source is available and the build dependencies are not too complex, then I'll just build it myself.

If it's a normal user application with fairly standard library requirements, and comes in rpm format, I might use rpm2cpio to take the rpm appart. If it's available as a tar, well that's a bit easier. I might use tools like ldd to discover required library versions, and I might even use symbolic-links to fake up a library-version and then cross my fingers.

If I can get a distribution source such as an SRPM, then they can be quite helpful in discovering flags/patches that might be needed to build the application on my own system.

Of course you could use a VM to install for another distro, and then extracted the installed/configured software and libraries. Then move it to you own distro and set LD_LIBRARY_PATH so it uses the extracted libraries in preference to you own distro's libraries.

OpenSUSE has the OpenSUSE build service. It provides a web-accessible VM build system that can build installables for quite a few non-OpenSUSE distros. It could be used as a build platform if you do not have the capability on your own desktop or server.

These days, there are also flatpak like approaches. I've never needed to go down that path.
 
G'day CataclysmicGentleman, Welcome to Linux.org

A really good start would be give us the specs......which OS are you running.......what are you running it on

What problem have you encountered

What steps have you already taken
 
If anything, it first boils down to which distro you're using, then which program you're looking for, and finally which installation method works best for you. The more popular distros (Ubuntu, Mint, and Redhat as you mentioned) will often have sites where you can download the program (usually through the command line), whereas lesser-known distros may not have as wide of support and you'll have to find alternative methods of installing it (such as from source, as @digitaltrails mentioned). That being said, every common program in Linux (Firefox, MPV, LibreOffice, etc) comes preloaded with your distro.
 
Lunix version (as per command cat /proc/version
Linux version 5.18.19-200.fc36.x86_64 ([email protected]) (gcc (GCC) 12.1.1 20220507 (Red Hat 12.1.1-1), GNU ld version 2.37-27.fc36) #1 SMP PREEMPT_DYNAMIC Sun Aug 21 15:52:59 UTC 2022

(Oh wow I just realized Fedora is red hat? I thought they were related, but not the same thing :O)

Application I am trying to download... https://www.amd.com/en/support/grap.../amd-radeon-rx-6400-series/amd-radeon-rx-6400
(It may not even be an application with a typical GUI, but my question has come up for me personally more then once, when I wanted to install a application that did not have a app just for my distro. I sadly do not know how to install applications from tar.gz files, but I am sure there are "how to" forums I can read in my own time on that topic.)
Isn't that "application" just the Radeon driver? I'm not a Radeon user, but the advantage of using an AMD GPU is that the driver is baked into the kernel, so there is no driver to download (unless you have an old kernel that doesn't support that particular card or you elected not to include it in the kernel/module build).

Perhaps a Radeon user could fill in the details on this.
 
The Linux amdgpu driver for AMD/Radeon cards is provided by AMD to the Linux community and should work unless you're using a legacy card, if you're having problems try adjusting your settings.
 
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Lunix version (as per command cat /proc/version
Linux version 5.18.19-200.fc36.x86_64 ([email protected]) (gcc (GCC) 12.1.1 20220507 (Red Hat 12.1.1-1), GNU ld version 2.37-27.fc36) #1 SMP PREEMPT_DYNAMIC Sun Aug 21 15:52:59 UTC 2022

(Oh wow I just realized Fedora is red hat? I thought they were related, but not the same thing :O)

Application I am trying to download... https://www.amd.com/en/support/grap.../amd-radeon-rx-6400-series/amd-radeon-rx-6400
(It may not even be an application with a typical GUI, but my question has come up for me personally more then once, when I wanted to install a application that did not have a app just for my distro. I sadly do not know how to install applications from tar.gz files, but I am sure there are "how to" forums I can read in my own time on that topic.)
Our member f33dmbits is correct in what he said.
Support for your AMD Radeon GPU is already in the kernel that your Fedora install is using.

Run this command to show what driver your kernel is using.

Code:
lspci -vnn | grep -i VGA -A 12

I ran it to see if my AMD Radeon GPU is supported and the kernel driver is in use, YAY!
Code:
e:~$ lspci -vnn | grep -i VGA -A 12
09:00.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] Cape Verde PRO [Radeon HD 7750/8740 / R7 250E] [1002:683f] (prog-if 00 [VGA controller])
    Subsystem: XFX Pine Group Inc. Cape Verde PRO [Radeon HD 7750/8740 / R7 250E] [1682:3248]
    Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 97, IOMMU group 21
    Memory at e0000000 (64-bit, prefetchable) [size=256M]
    Memory at fce00000 (64-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=256K]
    I/O ports at e000 [size=256]
    Expansion ROM at 000c0000 [disabled] [size=128K]
    Capabilities: <access denied>
    Kernel driver in use: radeon
    Kernel modules: radeon, amdgpu

You should not need to install the driver on the page that you linked.

Are you experiencing poor graphics performance on your pc?
 
Fedora is made by the Red Hat corporate developers, but idk how similar or different they are from each other, i think they both have the same basic types of software and filesystems.
Fedora is the test bed for RH.
I'm not sure (aside from the subscription) how the two distros differ.
 
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G'day CataclysmicGentleman, Welcome to Linux.org

A really good start would be give us the specs......which OS are you running.......what are you running it on

What problem have you encountered

What steps have you already taken
G'day to you too sir, thank you for the welcome. :D

To be honest I am unsure if I need to install an app or not, I just was curious how the process works in events when your particular distro is not listed for an app which you desire to download.

I am running Linux Fedora 36 on a dell SSF desktop with 16 GB of ram, an i5 8th gen, and a AMD RX 6400 GPU.

Details of distro:
Linux version 5.18.19-200.fc36.x86_64 ([email protected]) (gcc (GCC) 12.1.1 20220507 (Red Hat 12.1.1-1), GNU ld version 2.37-27.fc36) #1 SMP PREEMPT_DYNAMIC Sun Aug 21 15:52:59 UTC 2022

I am unsure if there is a problem, but I was considering trying to install the AMD drivers, I do not know if I need to or not... if someone could help me know how to check if my Linux install is working with the GPU or not that would be great!

If anything, it first boils down to which distro you're using, then which program you're looking for, and finally which installation method works best for you. The more popular distros (Ubuntu, Mint, and Redhat as you mentioned) will often have sites where you can download the program (usually through the command line), whereas lesser-known distros may not have as wide of support and you'll have to find alternative methods of installing it (such as from source, as @digitaltrails mentioned). That being said, every common program in Linux (Firefox, MPV, LibreOffice, etc) comes preloaded with your distro.
Thanks for the info!

Isn't that "application" just the Radeon driver? I'm not a Radeon user, but the advantage of using an AMD GPU is that the driver is baked into the kernel, so there is no driver to download (unless you have an old kernel that doesn't support that particular card or you elected not to include it in the kernel/module build).

Perhaps a Radeon user could fill in the details on this.
Yes thank you for pointing that out. This isn't a application really, but this was the lastest case of "which one do I download" lol silly me didn't know Fedora 36 = RH. Thanks for the info! :D

The Linux amdgpu driver for AMD/Radeon cards is provided by AMD to the Linux community and should work unless you're using a legacy card, if you're having problems try adjusting your settings.
Good to know. Thanks.

The amdgpu drivers are in the Linux kernel and you don't need an AMD gui app to manage your resolution settings, you can just use the display settings of your distribution. Why do you think you need this?
I don't know why I thought I needed it, I think it was purhaps due to me getting lost in trying to learn how to demand my CPU run minecraft. haha.

Our member f33dmbits is correct in what he said.
Support for your AMD Radeon GPU is already in the kernel that your Fedora install is using.

Run this command to show what driver your kernel is using.

Code:
lspci -vnn | grep -i VGA -A 12

I ran it to see if my AMD Radeon GPU is supported and the kernel driver is in use, YAY!
Code:
e:~$ lspci -vnn | grep -i VGA -A 12
09:00.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] Cape Verde PRO [Radeon HD 7750/8740 / R7 250E] [1002:683f] (prog-if 00 [VGA controller])
    Subsystem: XFX Pine Group Inc. Cape Verde PRO [Radeon HD 7750/8740 / R7 250E] [1682:3248]
    Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 97, IOMMU group 21
    Memory at e0000000 (64-bit, prefetchable) [size=256M]
    Memory at fce00000 (64-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=256K]
    I/O ports at e000 [size=256]
    Expansion ROM at 000c0000 [disabled] [size=128K]
    Capabilities: <access denied>
    Kernel driver in use: radeon
    Kernel modules: radeon, amdgpu

You should not need to install the driver on the page that you linked.

Are you experiencing poor graphics performance on your pc?

Only game with poor performance is minecraft lol. I got lost in trying to figure out how to configure the GPU to run minecraft. I am so spoiled by GUI's. *sigh*

Thanks for the helpful commands :D

I ran the command you sent me, here is what it says:

Code:
 03:00.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] Navi 24 [Radeon RX 6400 / 6500 XT]
[1002:743f] (rev c7) (prog-if 00 [VGA controller])
        Subsystem: Sapphire Technology Limited Device [1da2:e458]
        Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 138
        Memory at d0000000 (64-bit, prefetchable) [size=256M]
        Memory at e0000000 (64-bit, prefetchable) [size=2M]
        I/O ports at 4000
 Memory at e2100000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=1M][/SIZE]
 Expansion ROM at e2200000 [disabled] [size=128K][/SIZE]
 Capabilities: <access denied>
        Kernel driver in use: amdgpu
        Kernel modules: amdgpu

03:00.1 Audio device [0403]: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] Navi 21/23 HDMI/DP Audio Controller [1002:ab28]


Fedora is made by the Red Hat corporate developers, but idk how similar or different they are from each other, i think they both have the same basic types of software and filesystems.[/SIZE]

Thanks for the info!
 
Thank you all for the replies and help! I wrote a longer detailed reply to each of you in one post, but it seems the longer posts need moderator approval. until then just wanted to say thanks! (Unsure how long it takes to get approved.)
 
@f33dm3bits said:The amdgpu drivers are in the Linux kernel and you don't need an AMD gui app to manage your resolution settings, you can just use the display settings of your distribution.".....AND he is 1000% correct.

In general, most linux OS's....fedora included.....jhave most of the apps you will need already installed.

Personally I have very little knowledge re Fedora, but in Linux Mint 21.1, there is a Software Manager which gives users access to something like 50,000 apps....surely there is something similar in Fedora ?
""Fedora is always free for anyone to use, modify, and distribute. It is built and used by people across the globe who work together as a community. It is a compilation of software packages, each under its own license. Images that can be downloaded here are available under the combination of licenses of the constituent software packages and etc etc etc etc""

I usually adopt the approach that all that I need is already in Linux Mint.......if that turns out to not be the case, then I simply use the software manager there to find whatever I need.


This is LINUX....keep it simple ! (and free!)
 
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@CataclysmicGentleman :-

I've always found that - with perhaps the odd distro-specific "tweak" - the contents of, say, a .deb and a .rpm package are largely the same once you strip 'em down.

The -.deb and -.rpm formats are there to tell the various distro-specific package management systems how to deal with them, and how to 'register' them as being on the system. That's what those are for. But .debs are usable across a large range of 'related' distros. The same goes for .rpms.

So often - if we want a binary or a library for Puppy - we'll just find a 'relevant' package, regardless of what it's packaged AS, then strip it down and just take out the bits we want. We then construct the relevant file-structure in a work area somewhere, and re-build it into either a .pet package or an SFS.

Once you've done all this a few times, it becomes second nature. This is more effective for us, since although the PPM (Puppy Package Manager) makes use of either the Ubuntu or Slackware repos for whatever distro a given Puppy is based around, Puppy often can't use those packages directly.....because Puppy's underlying method of running is just that little bit different to what most of you are used to. And this is why the Puppy community maintains its own repos of largely member-built packages that are specifically built for, and known to work WITH Puppy.

--------------------------------------

Of course, the vast majority of users simply want to install a package (click-click-click) and immediately get on with using it. Puppy's definitely for the 'tweakers', 'tinkerers' and hobbyists in the Linux community. She wouldn't appeal to anyone else......but WE wouldn't have it any other way.

"Diff'rent strokes for diff'rent folks." The best advice is, usually, to stay within your distro's package repos for software, since everything here is known to work 100% with your distro. Once you start going outside them, you're never quite sure what you're getting into.....and for most, less 'tech-savvy' folks, this makes the most sense. The more adventurous amongst us can come up with some truly amazing concoctions, simply because we have enough experience to know what we're doing......one example being, in my own case, my construction of a fully-'portable' package of the Lightworks video-editor for Puppy. And it works, perfectly. Same goes for the range of portable browsers and other apps I maintain for the Puppy community.....


Mike. :p
 
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Thank you everyone for all the helpful information! I have gotten my answer: 1 I don't need to install AMD drivers or apps because it isn't needed. and 2 most apps can be converted to another distro (if you know what you are doing).

If we want to keep talking we can, just wanted to let you all know I got my answers :D
 

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