Trouble installing downloaded software

[zorinmc]

Hello,

New to ZorinOS, coming from Windows. I'm still setting up my new laptop, and attempting to download and install some of the programs I regularly use. Some programs seem 'friendly' and when unzipped they have nice install files that when double clicked run as one would expect and successfully install the program without any thought or effort. Others however ....

A few programs so far, including Opera Browser and Discord, when I extract the downloads, the main file (that I assume to be the one needed to run the install) is named 'Debian Binary', and double clicking it initially opened it in a text editor. I then chose to 'Open with other application" and tried to open with 'software' and 'software installer' but it give an error: "failed to open file: not supported".

In searching I found the recommendation to try installing 'GDebi' and then running the installs through that, so tried that, and when I choose to open the file with GDebi, I get "Could not open Debian Binary".

Continuing to search for answers, it was recommended to try installing by typing certain commands into the 'terminal', which I then also tried, but evidently am not giving the right commands as it isn't working either.

In any case, the point of my choosing ZorinOS was so that I did not have to use terminals, shell or root access, etc., but so that I could "point and click" like the technically challenged simian that I am. Can someone please help me and ease my monkey mind that I will get to continue using nice graphical user interfaces instead of learning a bunch of complex commands? Thanks!

[zabadabadoo]

Which apps are you having particular trouble with?
You mention Opera and Discord.
I assume they are not in the ZorinOS "Software" store and you have instead downloaded .deb files ?

[Topaz]

Discord and Opera are both installable from the Software app. That's the go-to option for installing your applications in Zorin. The terminal is rarely needed.

[zenzen]

Hi, welcome to Zorin OS

A Debian package, the one with a .deb extension, is the equivalent to Windows' .msi that is commonly found for installers. Although some installers in Windows are also found with the .exe extension, which itself is just an executable that handles the same process.

Once you have your Debian package you can run it with double-click, or if that doesn't seem to work for some reason, right-click → Open With Other Applications, and select Install Linux Application. Ultimately, you should see something like this:

Now, you can either click "Run anyway" or "Install Discord", which in both cases will bring up the Software store but the source of the installation will be different:

In this case, you can see that there's Discord from "Flathub", as opposed to that local file that I've downloaded. In contrast, the Software store doesn't have Opera in its index, and the installer only shows the local option:

What are the differences between Flatpak and other package formats is a topic for another time. For now, I'd recommend using the .deb that you've already installed i.e., use the "Run anyway" option. You can always change that later, so it's not an issue and it will keep things fairly straight forward to get started with.

And lastly, since you did mention the terminal, why not show you how to do the same thing like that:

sudo dpkg -i /path/to/deb/installer

So, for example, if your installer is in the Downloads folder:

sudo dpkg -i ~/Downloads/opera-stable_122.0.5643.142_amd64.deb

The ~ variable will resolve to your user's home directory, the one that you see when you launch the file manager by default. A tip: you don't have to type the entire fullname yourself. Once you are at about ~/Downloads/opera you can press Tab and it will auto-complete the rest.