Overall the key to using linux efficiently is the terminal but if you want TOR working all you have to do is open a file manager, unzip the file, then run the shell file inside. If double clicking on it does nothing but open gedit to edit it then you need to go into the terminal, type cd /path/to/compressed/file/ then ./<filename> to launch it.

Answer from sbergeron on askubuntu.com
Top answer
1 of 2
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$tar -xzf file.tar.gz
$cd file
$./configure
$make all
$make install

Most packages have a configure script which configures the project in an appropriate way to install it directly.

Usually the best approach of achieving a correct installation is to read the readme file in the .tar.gz archieve.

And you are not required to install an executable to actually execute it. If you want to have it somewhere where you can call it on the console by typing the name of the executable, you need to place it in some folder that is in the $PATH. Under Ubuntu the $HOME/bin directory fulfills this requirement, but you could aswell modify/extend the path by extending the file $HOME/.bashrc or $HOME/.profile

If you do have an executable file in .tar.gz file, that you want to "install", then I personally use the following way:

$mv /tmp/folder /home/user/programs
$cd /home/user/bin
$ln -s /home/user/programs/executable <name>

that way you do have a "installed" executable with the name .

If you do need a script to start the program, I usually follow this pattern:

$mv /tmp/folder /home/user/programs
$cd /home/user/bin
$vim <name>
$chmod +x <name>

but you can use any editor instead of vim to generate the start-stript.

But keep in mind that a program placed in $HOME/bin is installed for the user only. If you need to install it for all users, then you should probably place the link to the executable/the start script in /bin/ and place the unpacked folder with the program files in a local directory like /etc/ or /opt/.

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In the end I was only able to run applications from the extracted directory of the application tar.gz download.

But I found a useful trick to be able to run the ubuntu launcher by creating a .desktop file in the home/.local/share/applications directory. Below are two examples:

example 1: home/.local/share/applications/navicat110_mysql_en.desktop

[Desktop Entry]
Version=11
Type=Application
Name=Navicat
Exec=bash /home/ross/bin/navicat110_mysql_en/start_navicat %f
Icon=/home/ross/bin/navicat110_mysql_en/navicat.png
Comment=Develop with pleasure!
Categories=Development;IDE;
Terminal=false
StartupNotify=true

example 2: home/.local/share/applications/jetbrains-phpstorm.desktop

[Desktop Entry]
Version=1.0
Type=Application
Name=PhpStorm
Icon=/home/ross/bin/PhpStorm-133.982/bin/webide.png
Exec="/home/ross/bin/PhpStorm-133.982/bin/phpstorm.sh" %f
Comment=Develop with pleasure!
Categories=Development;IDE;
Terminal=false
StartupWMClass=jetbrains-phpstorm

Just be sure to change the path to your own path for the downloaded & extracted application.

Discussions

Is there a short guide how to install programs on ubuntu?
Open Ubuntu software Search Click Install .... Profit More on reddit.com
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July 4, 2022
Newbie with a stupid question, is it better to install software using command line, download it, or install it from app store?
The command line and the store are basically interfaces to the same thing, the Ubuntu repositories, so they are the best way to install things and can be used interchangeably. Downloading things off the web should only be used as a last resort if you need a piece of software that's not available on the repositories. More on reddit.com
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34
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December 26, 2020
apt - How do I install downloaded software using package managers? (Ubuntu Linux) - Unix & Linux Stack Exchange
I recently learned that linux does not have any installation wizards. I needed the following software, so I downloaded them and put them in a folder. As you can see, I've extracted one of them. No... More on unix.stackexchange.com
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December 5, 2016
Can't find 'Software Install' under Open With context (Ubuntu 20.04)
You can use sudo apt install /path/to/file.deb More on reddit.com
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25
7
June 19, 2020
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YouTube
youtube.com › watch
How To Install Software in Linux WITHOUT Terminal - Switching to Linux - YouTube
In this video i will show you how to install software and programs in Linux without using the terminal. This video is aimed at new users, the terminal has lo...
Published   January 9, 2022
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Ubuntu Community
help.ubuntu.com › stable › ubuntu-help › addremove-install.html.en
Install additional applications
Click the App Center icon in the Dock, or search for Software in the Activities search bar. When App Center launches, search for an application, or select a category and find an application from the list. Select the application that you want to install and click Install.
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Medium
medium.com › geekculture › 5-different-ways-to-install-software-on-ubuntu-linux-14ae6b95d1d2
5 Different Ways to Install Software on Ubuntu Linux | by Mwiza Kumwenda | Geek Culture | Medium
March 9, 2021 - This guide explores five different ways in which you can install software on Linux Ubuntu and other Debian-based distros. All the methods will work on other Debian-based distros, except for the first method as distros might have unique GUI-based solutions. For a long time, people believed that the Linux operating system is only for geeks that are glued to the terminal...
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Opensource.com
opensource.com › article › 18 › 8 › how-install-software-linux-command-line
How to install software from the Linux command line | Opensource.com
The dnf (or yum) command is a front-end for the RPM packaging system. If you can't find an app in your software repository but you can find it for download directly from its vendor site, you can use dnf to manually install an .rpm file.
Find elsewhere
Top answer
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It looks like you're using ubuntu. Are you sure you can't install tomcat and these other programs using apt? https://stackoverflow.com/questions/17360868/setting-up-tomcat-in-ubuntu

apt-cache search openjdk
apt-cache search tomcat7
apt-cache search maven

All return reasonable results for me. If you want to run the latest and greatest versions (or just really control versioning and not have a package manager screw you which can happen), then manually installing is fine. Each of these programs has copious online documentation for how to install - just google "install jdk linux", "install tomcat linux" etc. The short summary is that java apps don't usually have much of an install need - just untar them into /opt using:

$cd /opt
$tar zxvf ~/Downloads/apache-tomcat-blah.tar.gz

and then start following the configuration guides. Start with the jdk first.

2 of 5
1

Looking at the image you attached, I can say you are using Ubuntu. Ubuntu provides different package managers like Synaptic package manager if you are a GUIna pig, apt package manager which is a command line tool.

I do really wonder for your comment,

I recently learned that linux does not have any installation wizards.

So, as you are trying to install jdk tomcat and maven, Either find the package in synaptic package manager or use the apt to search and install the package.Synaptic is a GUI tool and it is straight forward to install any package.

For apt you can use the below commands,

  • Update your repository, sudo apt-get update

  • Search for the package in repository. apt-cache search maven (or any other package you want to install)

  • Once you find the right package in repo, Install it using, sudo apt-get install package-name.

If you are trying to install from the third party packages from third party repositories which is not warrantied by Ubuntu or any other distribution which you are using, then you should install those packages with your own risk. There might be chances of breaking your packages due to unhandled dependencies.

In that case add the third party repositories to /etc/apt/sources.list and follow the above mentioned steps.

UPDATE

FWIW, If you are trying to install jdk then just install the default-jdk which is provided in your distribution itself.

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Reddit
reddit.com › r/ubuntu › can't find 'software install' under open with context (ubuntu 20.04)
r/Ubuntu on Reddit: Can't find 'Software Install' under Open With context (Ubuntu 20.04)
June 19, 2020 -

Hi,

As the title says, I can't find Software Install under Open With section. I need to install some DEB package. I clearly remember, it was there and I even opened and installed DEB packages with it.

But from today, I can't find it anywhere, so I can't install DEB packs. There is of course 'Snap Store', but it says it can't open DEB packs. Can someone tell me how to get the 'Software Install' option back? I don't know which package it falls under.

🌐
Ubuntu
help.ubuntu.com › community › InstallingSoftware
InstallingSoftware - Community Help Wiki
October 15, 2021 - The Synaptic Package Manager offers a more advanced way of installing packages. If you have problems finding a suitable package with the Add/Remove tool, try using the search in Synaptic. This searches all of the packages in the available repositories, even the ones which don't contain programs. For details on using Synaptic, see SynapticHowto. Text based methods can be used across Ubuntu, Kubuntu and Xubuntu, but require familiarity with the terminal.
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Wikihow
wikihow.com › computers and electronics › operating systems › linux › ubuntu › how to install software in ubuntu linux: 5 easy ways
How to Install Software in Ubuntu Linux: 5 Easy Ways
June 9, 2025 - The Snap Store is another great place to install Ubuntu apps, especially if you want the most up-to-date versions of apps and don't want to worry about installing dependencies.[15] X Research source The Snap package manager comes preinstalled on Ubuntu, but if you want access to the Snap Store, you'll need to install it using the command sudo snap install snap-store in a Terminal window.[16] X Research source · Apps like Spotify, Slack, and Chromium can all be installed through the Snap Store.[17] X Research source · If you have a file that ends with .snap already downloaded, you can install it without the Snap Store.
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It's FOSS Community
itsfoss.community › ubuntu
How install app after download and extract - Ubuntu - It's FOSS Community
October 22, 2022 - I have downloaded maybe ten or twelve apps not available under Ubuntu store or generic store. I have extracted them, causing special folders to appear containing many files each, but no file is an installer.
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Ubuntu
ubuntu.com › server › docs › package-management
Package management | Ubuntu
Launching Aptitude with no command-line options will give you a menu-driven, text-based frontend to the APT system. Many of the common package management functions, such as installation, removal, and upgrade, can be performed in Aptitude with single-key commands, which are typically lowercase letters. Aptitude is best suited for use in a non-graphical terminal environment to ensure the command keys work properly.
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Liquid Web
liquidweb.com › home › how to install software from source on ubuntu
How To Install Software From Source on Ubuntu | Liquid Web
April 7, 2025 - The dependencies for this version of jq can be found here: https://packages.ubuntu.com/bionic/jq ... Now that our dependencies are squared away, we can install the package with dpkg. Under the hood, apt-get and apt, use dpkg to install packages: ... The Personal Package Archive or PPA is a proprietary repository for developers to provide versions of their software packages in a specific storage medium.
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Quora
quora.com › What-is-the-recommended-method-for-installing-software-on-Ubuntu-using-apt-get-or-downloading-it-directly
What is the recommended method for installing software on Ubuntu, using apt-get or downloading it directly? - Quora
Answer: Don’t download software and install it on Linux. This is the “Windows Way”, and is an open invitation to malware. Use apt as setup by your distribution: sudo apt install packagename sudo apt remove packagename sudo apt purge packagename apt will look at the repository database ...
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Quora
quora.com › I-am-new-to-Ubuntu-and-I-am-having-trouble-installing-software-that-is-not-on-Ubuntu-Software-Center-How-can-I-solve-this-problem
I am new to Ubuntu and I am having trouble installing software that is not on 'Ubuntu Software Center.' How can I solve this problem? - Quora
Answer (1 of 4): Most software for Linux sits in repositories, or libraries which can be added to your software center. If you visit the software's website, they usually identify a PPA to add to your software. Copy this PPA, eitgher onto paper or to your clipboard. It will look something like t...
🌐
Quora
quora.com › How-do-you-install-software-on-Ubuntu-using-the-apt-get-command
How to install software on Ubuntu using the apt-get command - Quora
Answer: apt-get and apt are command-line utilities to manage software packages, using a database of software package repositories to search for packages. The three most-used command arguments to apt-get or apt are: [code]update -- to refresh the repository database, listing available updated pac...