Some Linux help please?

Life Technology
1

So I finally found what looks like a good Chinese-English dictionary for Linux, a KDE one called KCDict. Only now the problem is that I can’t install it - every time I ./configure I get:

checking for Qt... configure: error: Qt (>= Qt 3.0.3) (headers and libraries) not found. Please check your installation!

But I’m certain I’ve got all the Qt3 libraries and headers installed, and they’re definitely newer than 3.0.3, so what could the problem be? Even most of the results on Google - and this apparently is a common problem - don’t end up with actual answers. Either that or they’re in foriegn languages.

2

if you were any nicer before, I’d offer suggestions.

Hail, continual plodders, hail!

3

what the hell.

check this

lists.debian.org/debian-kde/2003 … 00015.html

If you ever want to try another dictionary, you could always run Windows under Linux: VMWare or Win4lin. I like Wenlin.

4

Thanks for defying your better judgement and helping out. I’ll give that a try now.

EDIT: Et viola! It works! Thanks!

5

cool,

I’m happy you switched to Linux. How do you like it so far?

If you ever get the desire to run Windows stuff on Linux, I forgot to mention CrossOver Office. It emulates enough of Windows to let you run some apps. Don’t need to run Windows entirely. Office, Photoshop, iTunes. Really on any platform, I can’t live without Photoshop and iTunes. GIMP is not a substitute for Photoshop. It’s worth a look.

6

[quote=“Tetsuo”]So I finally found what looks like a good
Chinese-English dictionary for Linux, a KDE one called KCDict.
Only now the problem is that I can’t install it - every time I
./configure I get:[/quote]

Stop. Don’t even bother. I’ll turn you on to a really great
dictionary. It is (drumroll please), Stardict.

It actually does several languages. You install the basic Stardict
package, and then add the dictionaries you want to it. Both
simplified and traditional character dictionaries are available (you
can install both, and switch off between them as you like).

Installing the basic package is easy if you’re using Debian (or
Kanotix/Knoppix):

apt-get install stardict

If you try to run it at this point, you’ll get an error message telling
you that you don’t have any dictionaries installed, and you’ll be
referred to this web page:

stardict.sourceforge.net/

You have to download the dictionary tarballs. I’ll save you a little
trouble - here’s where you’ll find them:

Traditional Chinese:
stardict.sourceforge.net/Dictionaries_zh_TW.php
(note: several to choose from, I like the Oxford one)

Simplified Chinese:
stardict.sourceforge.net/Dictionaries_zh_CN.php
(note: again, you have choices, I chose Oxford)

OK, after you’ve downloaded, to install the Big5 dictionary:

tar -jxvf stardict-oxford-big5-2.4.2.tar.bz2
cd stardict-oxford-big5-2.4.2
mv oxford* /usr/share/stardict/dic/
cd …
rmdir stardict-oxford-big5-2.4.2

In case you’re worried about making a typo when typing
“stardict-oxford-big5-2.4.2”, I’ll clue you in on a little Linux trick
called “auto-completion”. Just type the first few letters:

tar -jxvf star

and hit the tab key - Linux will type the rest for you. This works for most commands.

Now just start stardict (type “stardict” in an Xterm). It will work!
You can choose to click “scan” which makes the dictionary
behave similar to Dr. Eye, or unclick “scan” and you just type in
the word you want to look up. Dead easy.

Hope this helps.

best regards,
DB

7

DB, thanks for that - I’ve already got Stardict, but I couldn’t seem to find any Chinese>English dictionaries for it, just English>Chinese. Definitely looking into that!

8

You can install all the dictionaries from http://stardict.sourceforge.net/Dictionaries_zh_TW.php, and Stardict will search in all of them.
There are three Chinese->English dictionaries (xdict, cedict and langdao).

9

OMFG. As it turns out, I didn’t have stardict installed, I had stardic, which is shit. stardict is great. The fact I didn’t know about that program is basically the one thing that stopped me switching to Linux earlier. Seriously. You guys own.

10

dict files are wonderful. I wonder if there are any other Linux apps that make creative use of them.

For instance, I have a plugin for my Safari browser, LiveDictionary. I can mouse over any word in my browser and a popup window will show it’s definition or translation, for any language for which there are available dicts.

It even works with many other mac apps, really amazing.