[buug] Loading a .tar.gz file in Debian Linux

[Michael Paoli]

Debian, like any particular "flavor" of UNIX/LINUX/BSD/... has a bit of
its own particular ways of (at least preferably) doing things.
Debian is quite well engineered and documented[1].

I'm not sure exactly what your xfce/gui/tar.gz question is asking[2], so
I'll skip that one at least for now.

The FHS[3] will give a good overview of much of the filesystem/directory
layout.  Debian policy[4] will cover further details, including
filesystem hierarchy, run levels and init.d scripts, among many other
details.  You can use update-rc.d[5] to tweak what stuff is/isn't
started in various run levels (e.g GUI console login stuff), you can
also check out and possibly tweak /etc/inittab[6][7] (see also[4]) to
figure out what you want the default run level to be, and what you do and
don't want launched at that run level.  You can also check out virtual
console[8] capabilities (e.g. you may just want to switch to a text based
virtual console, rather than disabling GUI console login on other virtual
console(s)).

Debian has quite a number of GUI login managers and X window
managers/frameworks available.  I actually have my laptop configured
with 3 distinct GUI login frameworks and default X window managers on
three distinct virtual consoles, and text logins configured on 8 virtual
consoles, and Debian offers far more than 3 X window managers.

You might also try asking on a Debian or LINUX list or checking with such
user group(s)[9][10][11][12] ... you may find a higher
concentration of LINUX and/or Debian folks there.

Quoting "webmaster at hawaiidakine.com" <webmaster at hawaiidakine.com>:

> I am helping a friend with a Debian install.

> Anybody know the best directory to open the gui window manager xfce from 
> a tar.gz file. This Debian Linux version  is "sarge". I am a FreeBSD 
> person and the file structure in "sarge" is not easy to figure out. Like 
> I don't want a gui boot up I want to start with a command line. So I 
> have finally, after reading the top complaints on the Debian list, 
> figured out how to start a gui under level 3  when you need to have it. 
>     I want to have a simple gui XFCE3, not KDE and only XFCE4 is 
> available on the apt-get.

references/footnotes:
1. http://www.debian.org/doc/
2. http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html
3. http://www.pathname.com/fhs/
4. http://www.debian.org/doc/debian-policy/
5. update-rc.d(8)
6. inittab(5)
7. init(8)
8. console(4)
9. http://bad.debian.net/
10. http://www.balug.org/
11. http://www.debian.org/MailingLists/subscribe
12.
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=debian+OR+linux+%22bay+area%22+%22user+group%22+OR+%22users+group%22+OR+%22user%27s+group%22&btnG=Google+Search