Q I've installed and set up BitTorrent on my Linux box as I just got my broadband connection set up. I downloaded software from a torrent site. One problem: it's a rar file, or rather a directory of rar files. I appear to have a lot of 'parts'- how the heck do I put them together as one whole file that can be installed? Now, I could go upstairs with my credit card and use my daughter's PC with its bloated junk OS to pay for an overpriced Windows version of rar software and then come and install the resulting file on my Linux box, so that I can then install Windows apps and games to demonstrate to said daughter that Linux is worth considering. In short, how do I convert a rar directory into an RPM? Oh, and as an aside, why the heck would anyone use rar files? I mean, what a fuss and bother it is!
A The 'rar' file format is popular under Windows, as it allows an archive to be split across multiple files and for those files to be combined once downloaded. You can't convert a rar file into an RPM, as the rar is simply a package, just like a tar.gz or tar.bz2 file. But you can unpack it using the 'unrar' program, which will be available from your ISP's FTP service, or on the original installation media. You will also have to install Wine and any other required software to be able to run programs for Windows under Linux, which may be harder work than actually just finding Linux alternatives to the Windows software. Almost everything that can be done in Windows can be performed in Linux using freely available software, including playing many games.