i want to install a software like MP3 player in linux. I have downloaded the tar/bin file, but do not know how to install it. Please help me by the command to install a software in Linux

First, you have to untar it. To do that run one of these commands: tar zxvf filename.tar.gz or tar jxvf filename.tar.bz2 next, cd into the directory where you extracted the archive and get a directory listing with ls. If there is a file named configure (usually it's green in color), type ./configure. If all your dependencies have been resolved, and the dependency tree has been built, it should configure without error. If it configures without error, run the make command, when that is done, run sudo make install, or if you are already root, run make install to finish the install. Other packages use a shell script to install the package. If this is the case, there should be a script file called something like install.sh. To install it with the shell script run sh install.sh. What distro are you using, and what package are you trying to install? "Computer security." — Oxymoron

From his post it says that he is using ubuntu. In that case the easiest way to install applications is with apt-get. If you wanted to install xmms for playing MP3s: $ sudo apt-get install xmms Eneter your password and that's it! Firstly you probably want to update what packages are available with: $ sudo apt-get update You may also want to add extra repositories as this will increase the number of available packages tenfold. For a good starting guide check out the unofficial ubuntu guide here: http://ubuntuguide.org/ It includes installing MP3 players as well as many other things. If there is a ubuntu/debian package for the software you want to install I would suggest using that before resorting to using a tar.gz and compiling it yourself. For a GUI interface for installing software try synaptic.