Installing Software on Gentoo

sunburned.surveyor@gmail. · Posted: Wed Apr 06, 2005 7:19 pm Post subject: Installing Software on Gentoo

I am brand new to Gentoo and also Linux, so please be patient with me.

I hope I've got the right forum for this question.

I have been reading all about ebuild/emerge and package management on Linux. Despite this reading, I'm still a little confused about how to install software on Gentoo. (As your typical Windows user, I'm used to just double clicking an .exe file. I do a little programming, however, so there may still be hope for me.)

I need to learn how to install software on my Gentoo OS. My Gentoo computer doesn't have a network/internet connection, so I've got to install everything from disk.

My first question is this: What type of data do I download to install a particular software on Gentoo. Do I grab a certain binary package, or do I have to get the source code for the program?

Let's say I want to install the latest version of GRASS on Gentoo. Which of the binaries or source packages would I grab from this link?:

http://www.hpcc.nectec.or.th/grass/download/index.php

What commands would I use to install GRASS?

I'm not looking for an easy idiot-proof solution. I'm really trying to figure out how to get the specific software I want on my Gentoo box. I don't mind working a little to achieve this goal.

I appreciate any information or tips on this.

The Sunburned Surveyor

P.S. - I'm running the Gentoo 2.4.26 Kernel on an HP I686.

masteroftheuniverse · Apprentice Joined: 20 Jan 2005 Posts: 259

in your case i'd just download the binary tarball, untar, and install. yeah, wihout portage. i say that, although i didn't check to see if it is in portage, in which cas you could download a source tar for the ebuild and emerge it...
just checked, grass is in portage.

sunburned.surveyor@gmail. · Posted: Wed Apr 06, 2005 7:40 pm Post subject:

Now I see why they call you the master of the universe......

You said:"in your case i'd just download the binary tarball, untar, and install"

So if Grass wasn't in Portage, you would grab the Generic GNU/Linux tarball. (grass5.4.0_i686-pc-linux-gnu_bin.tar.gz)

Then you would untar it....You use the "tar" command for this, correct?

Then you would install it....What commands would you use to do this? Could you follow the steps described here, under Compiling and installing software from source?:

http://www.linuxforums.org/tutorials/1/tutorial-19957.html

Thanks,

The Sunburned Surveyor

Legoguy · Posted: Wed Apr 06, 2005 8:35 pm Post subject:

In my opinion it is definitley best to keep as many programs managed by portage as possible. Chances are, most software you want to install is in portage. GRASS is too.
Just do an "emerge grass" and portage will download the sourcecode, compile it, and then install it. It's that easy. Read the emerge man page (by doing "man emerge") for more emerge commands.

Late edit:
Didn't notice you mentioned that it was a networkless install. In that case, just download the file that portage wants on another computer, put it on some sort of portable media (cd, usb drive, etc), and then put it in /usr/portage/distfiles, and continue installing on your merry way.

hybrid · Posted: Thu Apr 07, 2005 11:39 am Post subject:

you can also take a look at

ExZombie · Apprentice Joined: 29 May 2004 Posts: 170

As you are running a networkless install, hybrid's first example will be even more useful to you. The -f flag tells emerge to only download the files required. Since it will be unable to do so, it will spit out a bunch of errors. They contain the names and locations of all files portage needs, so you can then download them elsewhere. After that, just put them into /usr/portage/distfiles so portage can pick them up, and emerge normally.

Grillo · n00b Joined: 16 Mar 2005 Posts: 9 Location: Modena, Italy

I am experiencing the same issue, specifically with GRASS-GIS and R-2.1.0
I cant get the 56K modem to work on my gentoo (x86 kernel-2.6.11), even if I have the linux modem from the modem company...anyway, getting sick of trying to make this modem working I downloaded elsewhere all the packages I wanted from a gentoo mirror and then put it on my gentoo-pc, but...
someone says they should go in /usr/portage/distfiles, someone says /usr/portage/packages. None of them worked. I manged to emerge stuff from the packages cd, but there are not all the packages I want on it...

I updated my portage (tar -xjf portageblah.tar. in /usr/portage) and used export PGDIR="/usr/portage/distfiles" (or ".../PACKAGES") but it did not work (obviously I used "emerge -K blah blah")

The packages I needed were:
dev-lang/R-2.1.0 (ebuild exists and I have it!)
vmware-workstation-5.0.0.13124 (I have also this ebuilds)
ifc_8.1.024 (intel fortran compiler: there is no ebuild for this version, only for older non-easy-to-be-found versions)
OOo_1.9

NOte that I downloaded them all from a gentoo mirror, besides the ifc_8.1

I did not even tried yet with GRASS, because I got stuck with the basic stuff already...
Please help.