I am very new to Linux. I have just downlaoded and installed mandrivia and am using a dual boot system with windows. I want to get rid of windows completely but the one thing that still concerns me about using linux is installing programmes. I keep trying to download and instal programmes, but once I have downlaoded htem they dont seem to open. One of the main programmes I am trying to install is a torrent client. I have been to all the linux wen=bsites and followed their links, and although i am able to downlaod a torrent client, I just can't install it. when i try to open the programme nothing happens. what am i doing wrong please ???????????

the mandriva OS is already pre-installed the program called Ktorrent which is the one you're looking for I'm new to linux as well, so that's much I can help you out

Guys, I do not want to start any kind of flame war. But if you want to learn LINUX, learn ubuntu, and then switch to Debian, Slackware or Gentoo after you have experience. Otherwise youll most probably get stuck to Mandriva and its own tools as it was with windowze. Another bad choices are Suse, Fedora and other highly commercialized (and thus GNU hating) distros. Youre using LINUX, NOT windowze!

While I agree with Lin that Ubuntu is the way to go for beginners. But he is absolutely wrong about Fedora. @Lin - how is Fedora a commercialized, "GNU hating" distro? It's a community based distro that only include Free/Open source software. P.S. Let the flaming begin :)

Nope, no flamming=) I guess if the thing exists, its needed somehow. Fedora is "free testing platform for things to become stable to go to redhat paid". I guess some smarty-pants@ RH thought "Wow, why pay for testing, let the community suffer=)" After all it gets down to RH corp distro. Im personally totally against how RH behaves now, thats why I said that. Another thing is Novell(Suse), MS lover. There are however positive things like big corps paying more attention to Linux, but in general they are just bunch of "bill gates"-like types, wishing to get more money on IT, no matter how. Everything is IMHO, so plz no flamewar))

thank you all very much for your comments and help.

I always recommend mandriva to beginners, as it is an easy transition. Not a fan of Debian based distro's myself. That said, all version s of Linux have package manager, and that should be your first source for installing packages. Not all distro's have all packages mind you, there will be occasion where you will need to download and compile sources.

@Lin - Ok, no flaming, but although Fedora is used a testing for Red Hat, it's still a very good distro in it's own right.