General linux app installation

Ok I have a little issue here. I am running Ubuntu 5.04 and am wanting to learn how to install apps on it. I assume it is a debian kernel. I am attempting to install gtkpod which from what i see is a graphical manager for your ipod for linux. I am a complete newbie when it comes to linux. If someone could explain to me what exactly i would need for any general app installation. (Something called dependencies. Not sure what it is) Also if you could maybe point me to some super clear guides to installation that would be great. Thanks in advance.

Ps. I have all the drivers going so hardware is not an issue here.

alright ubuntu is based off of debian so package management is easy. you wanted gtkpod. open up your terminal su to become root and then type

apt-get install gtkpod

and that should download and take care of everything for you. you can also search for stuff by typing in

apt-cache search <whatever you want>

you want to view what is installed on your system

dkpg -l

and that will give you a list of whats installed. want something removed simply

dkpg -r <program name>

found an rpm you want to install then download alien first

apt-get install alien

alien will convert the rpm into a deb. im guessing ubuntu uses deb not sure never used it before. but anyway to convert

alien <rpm name>

want to install the deb

dkpg -i <deb name>

need further help ask. im no linux guru but i have some knowledge.

Personally, I would use:

apt-get remove <package>

instead of:

dpkg -r <package>

The former does dependency checking. Since the latter does not, it could leave you with a broken system. You might also want to check out Synaptic, a gui for package management. Install with:

apt-get install synaptic

Yes I am still having trouble with this. I typed in apt-get install gktpod but it just says "root@ubuntu:/home/chris/Desktop # apt-get install gtkpod
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree... Done
E: Couldn't find package gtkpod
"
I downloaded gtkpod in tar.gz format.

Ok I finally got it. Thanks everyone. Btw the command is dpkg not dkpg. other than that it worked. Thanks a lot.