OpieUserManual/Software

= Software =

The "Software" application, also called oipkg, is what is used to install and remove software. It is actually a frontend to the command line program "ipkg" so most things you can do with oipkg you can also do with ipkg. Oipkg can install things either remotely from a web server (called a "feed") or it can install an ipkg package file that resides on the local filesystem.

'''If you are using a version of ipkg lower than 0.99.20 there is a bug that prevents oipkg from working properly. If you see errors in the installation log about not being able to kill the old gunzip process, you can get around this by starting oipkg from Embedded Konsole.'''

Installing Software
There are several way to install a software package, depending on how you are accessing the package.

To install software from a feed (see the [#head-acca64b83535b9a1dff37a13cd176f393be7c195 Section called Servers]), first select "Opie" from the "Section" pulldown menu, the press the "+" icon next to "Feeds" in the main view. This will show all the available Opie packages (you can change which packages to view by selecting something else from the "Section" pulldown). Installed packages are marked with a blue circle, while packages that are not installed are marked with a red box. If you click on the icon for an uninstalled package, it will turn into an open box, with a blue circle coming out of it, indicating that you have marked this package to be installed. Mark as many packages as you wish this way, and then press the "Apply" icon (same red box and blue dot icon) to install all the marked packages. It will also remove any packages marked for removal (see below). Clicking this will open a window showing all the packages marked to be removed and installed, with some check boxes on the bottom, which represent arguments to be sent to ipkg, which you can usually ignore. After verifying that all the packages to be installed are correct, press "Ok" in the upper right corner (or press "x" to cancel and go back to the package selection window). The packages should then install, and you should see their icons appear in the Launcher, if they are Opie applications.

If you would like to install software that is not avaialable in a feed, you can download it to your device, and open Filemanger to the directory that it is in. You can then press and hold on the file name, and select "Open in Software", and oipkg will be started, with the package already marked to install. Confirm that it is the correct package, and check any options that you may need and press "Ok" to install the package.

If you would like to install a package but are not sure where to find it, and it is not in any of the feeds that you are using, you can try to have oipkg search for it. You can enter a query in the "Search" field in the toolbars, and then press the magnifying glass icon. Oipkg will then search a list of feeds as well as some software websites, and show you all the packages that it thinks might be what you are looking for, and displays them under the "ipkgfind&killefiz" section in the Package view. You can then select the packages that you would like to install from that list and install them as you normally would install packages from a feed.

Removing Software
Removing software is the same as installing software, except you will press the blue circle icon of an installed package, and it will have a red "X" over it. Then press the apply icon, and "Ok". You can install and remove packages at the same time by marking the ones you want to install and the ones you want to remove, and then pressing apply.

Servers
When you install software normally, ipkg downloadins the packages automatically from ipkg servers (also called "Feeds") and installing them. The list of servers and where they are is stored in a file called ipkg.conf in /etc/. Oipkg is capable of maintaining this list, as well as adding or deleting feeds from it.

Selecting Servers
To select which feeds you want to be able to see and install packages from, go to Settings-->Setups. There will be a box with a list of servers in it called "Used Servers". Servers that are highlighted will be used to install software from, while servers that are not highlighted will be ignored. You can click on a server to toggle its status. When a server is disabled, the information about that server such as its name and location is kept, so that you can resume using it without having to reenter this data. "Ok" will save the changes, and "x" will cancel them.

Adding Servers
You can add a server to your list of available servers by going to Settings-->Servers. Click on the button labeled "New" and enter the name and URL into the appropriate fields at the bottom of the window. The name is only for your convinience, so name it whatever makes sense to you. The URL is the URL of the feed, so the URL for the opie feed would be "http://131.152.105.154/feeds/ipaq/unstable". When you are done, click "Ok" to save the new server, or "x" to cancel adding it.

Editing Servers
To change the URL or name of a server, go to Settings-->Servers, and select the server that you want to edit. The current Name and URL should appear in the appropriate fields, and you can change them to the new values. Once you are done, click "Ok" to save, or "x" to cancel.

Deleting Servers
If you no longer need to use a server, this can be done by going to Settings-->Servers. You can then select the server you wish to delete and press the "Remove" button. "Ok" will save the deletion, and "x" will cancel it.

Destinations
Software is distributed in a format called "ipkg" which contains all the necessary files for the program, as well as information on where to put them. However, this information is only half complete, as it tells the package manager where in the "destination" to put the files, but the package manager must know where this "destination" is. The default destination is "/" (called "root") so if the package says to install a file in opt/Qt'Palmtop/ then the file will be installed in /opt/Qt'Palmtop/. However, if ask the package manger to use a destination at /mnt/hda/ (this is typically where a compact flash card would be) then the files will be installed in /mnt/hda/opt/QtPalmtop/.

The problem with installing file in a destination other than root is that the software usually does not know where to fine the installed files, and Opie does not know where to find the information that tells it how to display the program in the Launcher. To get around this, the package manager creates links [#NoteOne [1]] from where the files would be if they were installed in root to where they are actually installed. This means that no more space is taken up where the files would normally be installed, but any programs can still find the files where they think they should be.

Using Destinations
To mark a single package to be installed to a destination other than the default, you can press and hold on it, and select the destination you would like to use from the "Install to" menu. That package will then be installed in that destination.

To install a group of packages in a destination other than root, go to Settings-->Setups to open the settings dialog to the Setups tab. From here you can select the destination you would like to install the package to from the pulldown menu at the bottom. You will also want to check "Link to root destination" so that links are properly made. Once you have selected the destination you want to install the package to, click the dialog's "Ok" button, and all packages that you mark for install will be installed in the selected feed (The destination will not be changed for the packages already marked for installation).

You can also change the default destination by checking View-->Destinations to add the Destination toolbar to your toolbars. You can then select the default destination from the pulldown menu, as well as use the checkbox to select whether the packages should be linked to the root destination or not.

Adding Destinations
To add a destination, go to Settings-->Destinations to bring up the settings dialog at the Destinations tab, and press the "New" button to add a new Destination to the list. The new destination should be highlighted automatically, and you can then change the name and the URL with the two text entry fields below it. The name is only for easy display of the destination, so name it whatever makes the most sense to you. The URL is the location that you want the destination to have. So, if you want all your software to be installed under /usr/directory then you would set the URL to that. You can then click "Ok" to save, or "x" to cancel the changes.

Editing Destinations
You can edit a destination by going to Settings-->Destinations and selecting the destination that you would like to edit. Then you can edit the Name and URL fields in the same manner as when you added a destination. To save, click "Ok" or cancel by clicking "x".

Deleting Destinations
Deleting a destination is very easy. Go to Settings-->Destinations and select the Destination that you would like to delete in the dialog that appears. Press the "Remove" button to delete the destination, and press "Ok" to save the changes, or "x" to cancel them.

 Notes  Anchor(NoteOne)[1] See the Section called Linking Files in Chapter 10 for more information on symbolic links in Linux