Getting around the dreaded tarball!  (Also known as Converting .tgz files to .deb files)


One of my biggest challenges as a Linux newb has been dealing with .tgz files, the dreaded tarballs. Somehow or another, any time I go to unpackage and install a tarball file, I manage to screw it up royally. Apparently, the creator of the Alien package either is or knows someone who is also "terminally challenged". Alien is about the best Linux package in the world for Debian based distro users. It converts a tarball (and also other formats) into a .deb file (which is the package format for Debian based distros, such as Ubuntu), which then can be opened with gdebi package installer and it does the installing! So, here is how it works!
  1. Download the file that you want (for example a package called: mintygoodness.tgz). When the popup asks you what to do, tell it to save the file to the Desktop. This way you can see what's going on with your file.
  2. Open a terminal. Don't worry, pretty soon this will be your favourite command in the whole world!
  3. Type in the following but do NOT cut/copy and paste. Type it the way you see it
    4. (there is a space after sudo, after alien and one after deb too)

    sudo alien --to-deb ~/Desktop/mintygoodness.tgz


  4. Then hit enter and enter your password if prompted and enter again.
Then you will have a nifty little .deb file. All you have to do is find it. Mine sometimes end up on the desktop and sometimes in my Home Folder (at the end). Once you find it, click on it to open and it will automatically run with gdebi package installer, which will install the package for you. All done!


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