launching executables

[didn't RTFM]

what does it mean when a you do an LS command and the file shows up with a * behind it?
ex. filename* (btw it also lists it in green)

[quandary]

That just means that the file is executable.
./filename should execute it.

[didn't RTFM]

it only seems to happen with thing i download
i think i am expanding the .tgz files properly, because i get no errors and all the files show up
it says
bash: filename: command not found
any other ideas

[bdl]

Originally posted by didn't RTFM:
<STRONG>it only seems to happen with thing i download
i think i am expanding the .tgz files properly, because i get no errors and all the files show up
it says
bash: filename: command not found
any other ideas</STRONG>

You dont actually type filename, you type the name of the executable file. The './' prepended to the executable name tells the shell to look for the executable in the current working directory, vs. searching its PATH for the file. So if you've expanded a tarfile with an executable in it, lets say it's called 'installer' you then cd into the newly untarred directory and type:

prompt$ ./installer

...you don't type the 'prompt$' either, BTW. ;)

[didn't RTFM]

allow me to specify
when i said filename, i meant the name of the file
i didn't actually type "filename" in the CLI
i will type the name of the file and it will say command not found

thanks

[bdg1983]

Command not found would mean either the file is not actually there or (most likely) the current directory is not defined in your $PATH. Linux unlike Dos does not search the current directory unless it is in your path.

To execute a file in a directory that is not in your $PATH, prefix with ./

[HypoLuxa]

Have you actually extracted the tarball? I'm new to linux also, but one thing that I have noticed is that you can actually browse the contents of a tarball without extracting it. Open a terminal and untar the file by typing tar xvzf filename.tar.gz Then cd into the new directory and type ./filename to launch the installer. Hope this helps...

[nuisance]

what about 'sh &lt;file&gt;'?