No Laughing at me

Okay, got Ubuntu installed and running smoothly on my machine. I'm slowly getting the hang of configuring it so I can more easily find things (such as installed programs like SL)............there's got to be a better place to put things than the desktop. But that's a question for later if I can't figure it out by myself.

My question for this thread is how do I uninstall a program? The program is that other virtual world I use that I mentioned in my other thread (not going to mention the name publicly since I don't want that ugly argument about who's better or who's worse...........it's a program very similar to SL). I noticed the program window was cut off at the bottom and right side...........the Ubuntu desktop panels (I think that's what Linux calls them rather than tool/taskbars like Windows does) were covering a part of the UI for the program. I checked the preferences to make sure the "run in window" option was checked and the proper resolution was selected. It was but I decided to lower that resolution a little to see if I could get the full UI visible. Had to restart the program for the effects to take place............now it won't launch.

I want to uninstall it so I can reinstall it again. I don't see any uninstall utility with Ubuntu. To uninstall do I simply delete the program file folder? That seems a little too simple to me. So, before I do what I think I need to do, would someone tell me if that's the correct uninstallation method? Or is there a uninstall utility somewhere that I've yet to find?

Thanks for any help. And thanks for your patience with this Linux dummy. And for not laughing at me...........

No, that's actually a good question.

The process for uninstalling a program in Linux depends on how you installed it in the first place. If it was a program like SL where you just simply un-tarred the tarball (common name for compressed archives in Linux, since 'tar' is the usual compression method, much like 'zip' for Windows) into a directory and launch the program from there, then you can simply delete the directory and be done with it.

On the other hand, if you installed from your package manager (Synaptec), then it's recommended to use Synaptec to remove it, so it can remove any unneeded dependencies.

Generally speaking, it is safe to simply delete the directory. It's not recommended, however, as it may leave a lot of unneeded dependent files cluttering your computer, but it won't really harm anything.

Oh, and yes, there is a better way to have program shortcuts than having them all over your desktop. There are a few programs I use almost constantly (such as Firefox, Thunderbird, OpenOffice, Exhaile, and the calculator). I pin those straight to my top launchbar. Just right-click somewhere on the launchbar and select "Add to Panel". For all my other programs, I add them to the Applications menu. Simply right-click on the Applications menu and select "Edit Menus".

Yeah, it's a good question: If you downloaded the secondlife client from LL you get something that is very uncommon for Linux (see what Katheryne pointed out).
So deleting the folder would in this case "uninstall" secondlife. But deleting the folder and unpacking it again will give you no fun, because the configuration folder is still there. Any configuration of secondlife you will find -assuming your username is peggy - at
/home/peggy/.secondlife
to actually see it you have to toggle on to show hidden files in your filemanagers view menu(files and folders are hidden on linux if the name begins with a dot).
That means: deleting /home/peggy/.secondlife is reseting secondlife to a state of first install.
Then starting secondlife again it "thinks" it's freshly installed, creates the
/home/peggy/.secondlife folder with default values - and takes, because of that, a long time to start up.
Talking about programs other than secondlife: usually you install them using Synaptic (see system menu) and you then use Synaptic to uninstall them, too, if you don't like/use them.

well ... just give yourself some time and have fun exploring the new system

Hey Armin thanks for the tip.

I have been simply deleting the SL directory, as well as using the Synaptic Package Manager thingo to add/remove things like Wine, EnvyG (mistake), and other stuff.

Okay......think I understand you about deleting vs using Synaptic (or a combination of both ). But I did not download the viewer from LL. I downloaded it from the website of the virtual world I use that viewer for.......it's an open source client adapted to that world's grid requirements.

My SL viewer that I did download from LL works fine with my Ubuntu OS. I'll give it a shot....thanks.

Okay..............that worked. Took me a bit to get the hidden files shown but I deleted the entire folder since it was not in the Synaptic Package Manager. Thanks everyone for the help............geeze, I'll probably have to host a party for all you friendly Linux user types.

Now if I can just figure out how to get the Advance Menu up...........alt/contol/d doesn't work. It tosses my viewer to the task bar and shows my desktop

OK. Guessing you're using the "Compiz" desktop 3d effects and window management. So, if you go (in the Menu) to System-Preference-Compiz Config Settings Manager, just select General Options, then the Key Bindings tab. Then, scroll down to the binding for "Show Desktop" -- which defaults to Ctrl-Alt-D -- and change it (I changed it to Shift-Ctrl-Alt-D). then you can use Ctrl-Alt-D for the SL Advanced menu

Carter

thats really an important point, because apt - the software management system behind synaptic- keeps track of what you have installed and which other programs depend on that program. So a program that is installed using the apt system has to be deleted using the apt system or you'll get in trouble. http://ubuntuforums.org/ is a very good adress to find out more. In short: common graphical frontends for apt are synaptic, gdebi and adept (if using kde),for console apt-get or aptitude.


well, you already found out ... its pretty the same, just naming for the hidden folder might differ - e.g. the imprudence viewer is using .imprudence ... afaik only the omvviewer is using the standard way to install on ubuntu and debian, you can see that looking at the file extension: myprogram.deb can be installed the standard way, otherprogram.rpm not and usually yetanotherprogram.tar.gz most likely contains sourcecode (not always though... see secondlife and most of its children).

You can also try (and it works for most shortcuts) Simply holding "ctrl-alt AND shift" and pressing d. That works for me in KDE which ALSO thinks, "ctrl-alt-d" means "show desktop".

In most cases, Compiz uses Gnome's keybindings.... Not sure how it works within KDE though.

If you're using the Gnome Desktop (If you are using Ubuntu, you are; Kubuntu uses KDE, and Xubuntu uses Xfce), then simply go to the System menu on your desktop, select "Preferences", then select "Keyboard Shortcuts". Find any shortcuts already assigned to the CTRL-ALT-D key combo, and change it to something else.

If you don't want to muck around with all that, then using CTRL-ALT-SHIFT-D in-game works as well. It just gets a little cramped doing that.

Speaking of Compiz*: Consider to switch that off for running SL, or the performance might suffer severely.

* the program providing the nice 3D effects when switching desktops etc.

Okay, this is getting annoying now. That virtual world (not Second Life) won't launch again. All I get is an error message that says "Window loading error" with an ok button to push. I used the viewer at least 4 times yesterday before it quit on me........I did not crash out of the program (just a normal quit when I wanted to make a folder to put some textures in so I woudn't have to navigate to my Vista OS to upload while using Ubuntu). It didn't work later last night when I tried to launch it but it was getting late so I just went to bed not thinking much of the error. Well, this evening is no different........same message, same results. The game works with Vista.

It took me a couple hours to find out how to show hidden files the last time I unistalled the viewer............and dammit I can't remember how I did it. Would someone walk me through it? I'll write it down this time.

Also........that message is very uninformative. "Window loading error" means absolutely nothing to me. Anyone know what that error means besides the stinking window wouldn't load? A message like that might as well tell me that "the program won't start".......just about as useful.

With Nautilus (your file/folder browser) open, press CTRL-H.

As for the nondescript program errors you are getting, I agree, they can be a real PITA to track down. The only thing I can suggest is, if your program does not generate logfiles, then launch the program from a terminal. You'll have to keep the terminal open, but you should (hopefully) see some useful info come up right before the program rolls over and dies.

Thanks Katheryne I think I got it now................for the next time LOL

I hope it doesn't quit again on me. Thinking back I'm pretty sure I had changed some preferences in my graphics settings..........antialias x4, think. The change took effect and did not impact the viewer in a negative way at all. But, the next time I tried to launch the viewer after logging off for a bit I got that strange message. I can't imagine why that change within the viewer would cause the whole thing to just stop working...............but I'm leaving antialias alone for now anyway.

BTW, it the HIPPO viewer modified for the VW I'm using it with.

And a short update on my Ubuntu experience so far. I'm getting more comfortable with it every time I use it..............thanks to all the help you guys have been patience enough to give me.

Thanks again everyone.