How to follow instructions for third-party application

I want to run a programm (JazzLab) that comes as zip and has to be unpacked somewhere. The installing instructions say “Unzip the package. Start JJazzLab using bin/jjazzlab in the installation directory.”

So what could I do?

Start a new topic about that? (and perhaps mention this topic if it is related)

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Its moved now :wink:

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From the instructions it sounds like everything is in the directory … unpack … and run the jazzlab executable in the bundled ‘bin’ folder.

But I couldnt know for sure without seeing it.

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@karlfee as i’m unfamiliar with the application you mentioned:

  • Can you provide a link to those install instructions?
  • Describe exactly what problem you are facing.
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You can unpack anywhere in your home folder, and run it from there.

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@TriMoon The instructions are on that page: JJazzLab (about half way through under Linux Installation instructions)

I downloaded the file that contains the software (JJazzLab-2.2.0-Linux.zip) and opened it with Ark.

I would like to unpack it to some good directory now.

I know, but I thought there would be a better, more professional solution.

Thank you!

Well the “professional” place would be a subdirectory in /tmp ofcourse :wink:

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@TriMoon Ah, thanks great idea! Will do that.

He’s being ironic.

A suitable place would be the /opt folder (opt as in optional software), for example unpack in /opt/jazzlab.

Not at all because he is asking where to unpack the zip, not where to finally install…

PS: I’m reading/writing “he” in most replies as a replacement for “the poster”, because you can’t tell if the person is male/female (just like me) :wink:

Maybe @karlfee would like to further explain their intentions…

The OP simply asks how to perform the following instruct:

Which, without any other context we can also afford the assumption they are asking use to translate what that means and/or how to run the thing. And that is explained above (extract, run from given path).

If @karlfee also intends to keep or ‘install’ this application that would be a different query.
Its fair enough to suppose that is also what they want … but I couldnt be sure :woman_shrugging:

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True, amended. But that would depend if the file to run is an installer or the program itself. I was assuming, maybe wrongly, that it was the program itself.

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Given its ./bin/jazzlab (and the instructions) it seems likely the executable itself.
Like a ‘portable’ or ‘self-bundled’ app.

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Like i said in reply 5 i’m unfamiliar with the application…
So yes it could as well be an self-bundled application, only one to know is the final user of it @karlfee .
I went for the interpretation that the zip contained the install binaries which after executing would do the final install in the proper directories needed for it’s operation.
(Which is what most 3rd party apps that are provided as zip are IMHO)

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Thanks for your considerations, everybody! Indeed the programm, doesn’t have an installer. After unpacking it, I am asked to run an executable that resides now under: /tmp/JJazzLab-2.2.0-Linux/JJazzLab-2.2.0-Linux/bin/

I suppose this folder will be gone after re-boot? If so: where do such programms that can be run without installer usually go to? (As I can not unzip it to ./bin/ or /./usr/share/bin etc.)

In that case:

But …

Why not? those directories starting with a dot are meant relative to your homedir…

Some confusion here.
‘.’ just means current directory.
The shown paths arent necessarilly in HOME, and probably shouldnt be in their current form.

If you want my suggestion … I’d probably put the directory under ~/.local/share/ and create a symlink to the executable in ~/.local/bin or a desktop file in ~/.local/share/applications

If it absolutely must go in the system … as its all bundled together with itelf, and while I hate doing it … I might just drop it all in /opt/

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