I'm back. I used Solus for about a year some time back. Could not get three issues fixed. I was hoping I could now, as some Solus users have told me that they had done them.

  1. Cannot install SoftMaker Office
  2. Cannot install Mullvad VPN app
  3. Cannot install Brother MFC-J470DW printer
    The last one is weird, because the printer files included will install MFC-J460DW and MFC-J480DW, however those not only use different drivers, they even use different ink cartridges.

I can install these things on virtually any distro using either .deb or .rpm package managers.

I was told that Wireguard is now available in Flatpak, and that Flatpak is now available on Solus. I do not see anything about that in the Software Center. While launching Mullvad through Wireguard is not the same as using the app, it would be usable. On the old Solus, I was told to install OpenVPN, but another user was going to install it that way and give me steps for doing so, and he reported back to me that he could not get it to work.

Even so, the office package and the printer are more important.

And this time, I'm doing a fairly in-depth review for my new podcast, Distrohoppers' Digest (pilot episode happening as soon as, oh, I get some of these answers and my co-host finishes reviewing LMDE 3). I'm one of the co-hosts of mintCast podcast.

    Can only address:
    Cannot install Brother MFC-J470DW printer
    The last one is weird, because the printer files included will install MFC-J460DW and MFC-J480DW, however those not only use different drivers, they even use different ink cartridges.

    Go to dev page and request. The other 60/80 files mean nothing. I've done this dance with Brother a couple times. Devs will furnish you a custom driver file for your 70.

    As far as 1&2, if you are trying to shoehorn install non-repo items, good luck. Someone will know how to do it.

    For SoftMaker...

    I just did this for fun, but it works. Download the tar.gz archive from their website.
    Right click the archive and extract.
    Navigate to the extracted directory.
    Run the following in the terminal:
    ./installsmoffice
    Follow the prompts.

    Give it some time, and it will be installed.

      Xarius

      Xarius

      Xarius OK, the second step has me stymied. Apparently I don't know the correct command in Solus to extract a .tgz file. Otherwise, I'm good. I tried a simple unzip command... I have not had good luck with .tar or .gz files in the past. I thank goddess daily for .deb and .rpm files, but those don't work here.

              zaivala@zaivala-solus-t430 /Downloads $ unzip *
              Archive: softmaker-office-2018-942-amd64.tgz
              End-of-central-directory signature not found. Either this file is not
              a zipfile, or it constitutes one disk of a multi-part archive. In the
              latter case the central directory and zipfile comment will be found on
              the last disk(s) of this archive.
              note: softmaker-office-2018-942-amd64.tgz may be a plain executable, not an archive
              unzip: cannot find zipfile directory in one of softmaker-office-2018-942-amd64.tgz or
              softmaker-office-2018-942-amd64.tgz.zip, and cannot find softmaker-office-2018-942-amd64.tgz.ZIP, period.
              zaivala@zaivala-solus-t430 /Downloads $

              I would like to emphasize that I HAVE used Solus in the past, and stopped using it when, after more than a year, I got no effective help on these subjects; and that I am back because someone in another forum or social entity told me they could now be done. I am particularly curious that the someone stated that Wireguard was available as Flatpak for Solus, and nobody has commented yet as to the availability (claimed by this someone) of Flatpak in Solus.

                zaivala
                I've never used flatpak but a quick search of the repository confirms flatpak is there. How you use it, I have no clue. I stick to stuff in the repository, build it myself or use a snap.

                  OK still no help on the .tgz file. So far, we're 0-for-3. But I'm still holding out hope.

                  OK. Flatpak is in the repos. That is a differet thing from LinuxMint, where Flatpaks ARE in the repos, i.e., a section of the Program Manager includes available Flatpaks. I have installed Flatpak, will check it out.

                  Still 0-for-3. I got Flatpak installed. Had to reboot. But it does NOT, as reported, include Wireguard, at least I did not find it on the Flathub site. I also checked just in case the Mullvad app was there, nope.

                  BUMP. It's been 3 days, with only one partial answer I'm needing more help with. 0-for-3 still.

                  • You could give a try to qomui for Mullvad VPN
                  • For your printer, if you need another driver, you have to request it

                    I've had Softmaker running for a long time. It was the first thing I installed in Solus. Extract the tar.gz file in the file explorer, then open the terminal in the folder it extracted to.
                    Then run ./installsmoffice

                    You can use flatpak install commands that you find on Flathub to install flatpaks. They will be in the software center when it is completely rewritten (in the works this year according to their roadmap).

                    Unzipping is done with the "tar" command, or from the file explorer.

                    For VPN I simply add my VPN configurations to the Connections tab on Solus Plasma. Does not require any outside tools. But I guess you can request a package.

                    kyrios Already mentioned the printer request situation (and also another UI for the VPN I believe).

                    I guess that covers everything?

                      zaivala Same as ANY other OS with tar. I use tar xvf some.tar.gz, unzip is for .... zips...

                        elfprince No, I haven't. Because I have zero experience in that type of file, and nobody mentioned it until now. Thank you.