Installing software on Linux

[cybersunil]

Hi everybody,
I am a newbie to Linux environment and have decided to swtich from Windows XP (SP2) to Linux.
Just finished downloading SuSE 10.0 Version and managed to install in perfectly fine on my machine.
Now here are some of the questions which i need you guys to answer.
1)I have downloaded tar.gz file and rpm files which contain software such as VLC Media Player and Mozilla Firefox and others alike.Now how do i install them and after installing where do i locate them.
2)I like the GNOME environment and would like to customize it.I have downloaded lots of GNOME themes and background.Again how do i install them??

Hope i find answers to these questions.

Sunil

[praka123]

there are lot of resource available in www for ur questions via google.
b/w before installing source files (tar or bz2 or gz etc) make sure u installed 'checkinstall' package. http://asic-linux.com.mx/~izto/checkinstall/docs/README
briefly source u can install as
./configure
make
make install

or rpm pkg as
rpm -ivh pkg.rpm

for gdm themes,
run as root gdmsetup>install new theme>file

[vignesh]

You can install themes by navigating to preferences and thems.Background by rightclicking on the desktop and choosing change desktop background

[Satissh S]

@cybersunil: Hello! Congrats for your new Linux system! If you really wanna install packages that makes your linux installation a joy to use, then manual install is gonna be hectic! OpenSuSe is got yum a package management tool. Configure it by adding repositories. I can´t help you much with the repositories b´coz i´m not using SuSe now and you can always do a Google Search to find and configure Yum. Then install whatever softies you want! Check Out OpenSuSe website. You can do the same with Yast! But I found Yum to be convinient. By changing your installation source to one of their repositories You can configure YOU to have those packages to be installed.
Prakash can help you as i don´t have the will to fiddle with my Fantastic FEDORA Installation.