Working of .Deb Files , Compare with .exe files in Windows

[Res]

On Wed, 16 Dec 2009, Jatin Davey wrote:

> Hi all
>
> I am new to ubuntu. When i download any apps on the internet to be
> installed on ubuntu i get to download .deb packages. I know that these
> are the files that have the required application. I want to know the
> following:
>
> 1. What are the contents of any .deb pacakage in general ?
> 2. What happens when it is installed ? (Where are the files installed ,
> Directories)

Ok, for a newbie, the simplest method is    apt-get install mc

load mc and hit enter on the deb file, it will reveal its contents and 
where it wants to put them


> 3. Any application under linux is launched using a script which is
> similar to an exe file in windows , based on this i want to know whether
> an application can be installed anywhere and in any directory and it can
> be launched from there without having to set environment variables.

you can run any script from anywhere if you execute it with full pathname
providing the partition is not read only.
eg: /usr/local/tmp/a/b/c/d/e/f/g/h/runme


--
Res

"What does Windows have that Linux doesn't?" - One hell of a lot of bugs!