how to install programms on backtrack

[Li1_Monster]

hi i'm new to linux and am having trouble downloading programs first of all i figured out how to unzip tar gz bz2 files but i have no clue how to compile and make it so that it runs for example john the ripper or google chrome it gets annoying please reply

[Archangel-Amael]

Start here If you are new to Back Track or Linux read this thread.
Also we highly encourage the use of the search function and we highly discourage spoon feeding generic answers.

[Li1_Monster]

sorry if i wasn't clear but here is the problem i'll follow how to install instructions that come with files but it doesn't work i've tried redownloading and trying again i've searched google and other forums it basically says the same thing with different variations for example crunch comes as a tgz file extract ok, cd <directory> ok,
make, ok, make install, ok, but can't run it cant see it doesn't recognize its crunch command nothing, i trie again with "make" the binaries are still there but not for "make install" when i reboot i have to redo even the make but not the extraction i have perssitent 120GB hd with backtrack that i boot from so its not that i cant save

thanks ark angel but i figured a way around the amke install i got it from watching what comes up from doing make & make install it would be the directory to an .exe (executable file) and then put options like most syntaxes so i thought i'd do the same put directory for crunch.exe and options viola it worked but the problem from the beginning was i think thant the coomands make & install were putting the files in the wrong directories at first i thought i'd do make install manually to right directory and then i noticed what i said above and tried it thanks for the link though i have more programs with different problems thx

[muminrz]

Best tool to do that [K ] Menu / System / Synaptic Package Manager and search for one that you need

[Snayler]

Best tool to do that [K ] Menu / System / Synaptic Package Manager and search for one that you need

Or aptitude/apt-get.

Standard procedure to manually install programs: Read the README file, follow instructions. To summarize this phrase up, "RTFM".

[MASTERofMINDS]

Installing software from source in Linux

If it's .deb file then you might try

dpkg -i <your-app-name.deb>

But the app should satisfy all the dependencies...

[xX_Spiidey_Xx]

Also, FYI, anything you install on a live boot will NOT be there next time you boot your disc. If you want to keep the software, save yourself bandwidth usage and go for the VM/HDD/Persistent boot methods.

Familiarize yourself with MAKE. Knowing how to compile binaries will help you in the long run.