"Still, people are having trouble, so here's my 101 class on installing programs on Linux.
"First, chances are good you won't need to install any software on a Linux desktop. Almost all Linux distributions already come with an office suite, usually OpenOffice; a Web browser, Firefox; a universal IM client, Pidgin; and so on. Don't like the main choices? Most Linux distributions also come with alternative picks. For example, there's Gnome Office; the Epiphany Web browser and the Kopete IM client. You get the idea.
"If you're looking for a specific replacement for a Windows program you love, you have two choices. You can see if it's supported on Linux by Wine, or its commercial big-brother, CrossOver Linux. If it is, you can just install and run it on Linux. I do this all the time with Internet Explorer, for sites that are still crippled by IE-only requirements, and it works great."
