How do you install downloaded programs in LMDE

[Niks]

This is such a simple question but I can't find a thing about it as yet .

I have downloaded a number of programs I wish to use which are all .deb files.
In Mint 9 I could double click and they would install automatically ........"NO" your all saying "that's the wrong thing to do" but some things did work that way fine ie World of Goo !

Now I am in the "RIGHT PLACE" to do that but all I get is the contents of the file .
I can search the net and get stuff fixed but I don't understand why this problem should be a problem at all ..........
I can't even find a simple way to add one of them to the software list.
I think this issue is quite a serious one as "Linux haters" will love it!
I just installed skype by hand and could not help thinking "this could have been a very simply script that just did it for me" and be added to the software list provided.

So far I like the speed of this version of mint and trying to fix all the same problems I had with 9 again with the same tricks I learnt last time.

Think I have found a bug as it keeps changing my keyboard back to UK on reboot even though I deleted it!

[CDS]

This difficult issue of installation new software kicks me out of LMDE. I can't install software I need. I have to search on Google every time. It takes my time a lot. So, I moved to Ubuntu and no more Google again. Many people claim it very good distro, but if we can't use it, no more value to me. Sad!

[twa]

Niks,
make sure u have gdebi installed. ck-it from synaptic.
then right click on the icon program and click on Open with.

[Niks]

Now why the ........was that not checked in the original distribution

Well add that one to the "todo" list please Mintys....

Thx TWA that was what I needed to know ....

Although CDS has a very very good point..... People need to download/install and USE !!!

I'm very happy with my trip down Linux lane but sometimes I could scream because of the fact you have to use a text editor to get some basic things to work or spend days and I do mean days googling to just
add a single line of text,
to a file that you have never heard of,
in a place that you should really never go
just to switch on the webcam which you know the Kernel has installed !

Any way I'm still not got things right yet but this is much a test for me as for Mint.

I really like the concept of never needing to install the new version !!!!!!! I just hope there will be a go back till the moment the PC still worked correctly button somewhere!

[mads]

This difficult issue of installation new software kicks me out of LMDE. I can't install software I need. I have to search on Google every time. It takes my time a lot. So, I moved to Ubuntu and no more Google again. Many people claim it very good distro, but if we can't use it, no more value to me. Sad!

Very sad indeed and a great loss to the LMDE community.

Thanks a lot "twa".

"gdebi: Simple tool to install deb files" is installed by default in Linux Mint, but not in LMDE. You can, as "twa" has already mentioned, install it via Synaptic Package Manager.

[Bordee]

I feel that a a fair number of new posters, like CDS, are missing the point of LInux MInt Debian. People should remember that Debian and Ubuntu are quite different, and that they have different philosophies behind them. For instance, Ubuntu purports to have everything work out of the box, proprietary drivers included, and require minimal tinkering for new users. Debian on the other hand, does not preport to have everything that a new user needs on the ISO. A new user is expected to tinker -- find and install proprietary drives, adjust the respositories, and hunt down packages they might need. But for the extra tinkering Debian offers a payoff -- a smoother, more optimized system that runs more lightly than Ubuntu.

For instance, my LMDE Gnome setup starts up running at betwen 100-120 ram. Ubuntu Gnome started up running twice that; even a Ubuntu-based optimized LXDE (Peppermint, which is quite good, BTW) starts up running 100-120 ram. Thus, when running Debian my desktop runs as lightly as a Ubuntu-based distro running LXDE. That's huge. While I have no problems with LXDE, it requires a lot of tickering by hand -- often getting into the configuration files -- to acheive things that can be done quickly in GNOME. A case in point: see how long it takes to setup keyboard shortcuts in GNOME compared to LXDE.

Consequently, the beauty Linux MInt Debian is that it eases the installation pains of installing Debian, which can be a major pain. It also eliminates the leg work of hunting down the restricted extras such as flash and codecs. In that regard, the creators of Linux Mint Debian should be commended for making Debian more accesible to less advanced linux users.

However, you shouldn't forget that Debian has never been conceived of as a newbie distro. It requires a little patience, learning and tinkering. For those who take the time, the rewards are substantial. For those who have no interest in taking that extra time, go use Regular Mint, Ubuntu, PCLinux OS or something else.

Also, please stop complaing about how LMDE does not have every little program (which you could hunt down and install in 5 seconds in Synaptic) installed by default.

[k3lt01]

Bordee, I agree with much of what you say but I think the way you express your opinion may lead to confusion in some regards. LMDE is not as light as Debian and has many things pre-installed that neither Debian nor Ubuntu have . Many of these things are there to make, IMHO, LMDE a generic one size fits all distribution. Unfortunately in my experience this generic-ness can cause problems.

Anyway the simple answer to the OP's actual question as written in the topic heading is gdebi.

[mads]

k3lt01, I am not sure if the true purpose of your post was to answer the OP's question (since it was already answered twice), or to criticize "Bordee" and "putting him in his place".

Anyway about your comment "Unfortunately in my experience this generic-ness can cause problems". If you read "Linux Mint Debian (201009) Release Notes" (http://blog.linuxmint.com/?p=1527), which should be the first place one goes before installing a new OS, it says:

Cons:
* ...Compared to a frozen version of Linux Mint which changes very little once it’s publicly released, it’s not as stable. Things are likely to break more often but fixes can also come quicker. For this reason, LMDE requires a deeper knowledge and experience with Linux, dpkg and APT.
* Debian is a less user-friendly/desktop-ready base than Ubuntu. Expect some rough edges.

[azathoth]

Excellent point mads, Clem wasn't intending LMDE as an alternative to *buntu or Mint's mainstream edition (yet) and it's obvious he wasn't trying to court the same user demographic with this release.

as far as how to install a deb in LMDE, you can also open a terminal, cd to the download location and use
dpkg -i packagename.deb

[k3lt01]

k3lt01, I am not sure if the true purpose of your post was to answer the OP's question (since it was already answered twice), or to criticize "Bordee" and "putting him in his place".

The purpose was to answer the question as asked and not to lead the OP in another direction. I know what Clem wrote and I thank Clem for being so clear and concise, I also know that many here think LMDE is easy while others think Ubuntu is supposed to work ootb. Neither distro is like this.

[Bordee]

@k3lt01 -- I agree with most of your comments, and you're right to point out how LMDE is different from Debian. Also my intention wasn't to lead the OP in another direction. The OP's question was entirely appropriate, and it was correctly answered by several posters.

The issue I was addressing was the type of comment that CDS was making. Unfortunately, I've notice a lot of posts and comments by new users that basically state "LMDE does not have package X installed by default (and Ubuntu does), therefore LMDE is bad." Or even more annoying (and increasingly frequent lately): "I tried out LMDE for the first time, something didn't work for me, so now I'm leaving LMDE and going back to Ubuntu or Windows." I wanted to call out these types of post because they are not useful for people who frequent the forum and they have an overly negative tone.

I have no problems with users asking questions about how to find or install a particular package. Such questions are often helpful to other users. I feel that "how to" types of posts are one of the main reasons that people frequent linux forums. I just wanted to steer the comments and posts back towards the helpful "how-tos" or "help me solve this problem" and away from complaints about how certain packages aren't installed by default.