OK Ubuntu Masters...here is what should be an easy one for you.

I've been playing with the Penguin for more then 10 years, but not seriously enough to install packages beyond what came installed with the distro. Here recently, I decided to dedicate the shack computer to Linux and chose Ubuntu because I know it is easy, and seriously, I need it to be easy if I am going to live with it full time. All of my previous use was in a dual boot configuration with Winders.

So here goes.......

Ubuntu Software Center has an very nice selection of software and it is easy to install........ Unfortunately it is light on the things I do in WIndows. Weather Radar software, rig control, Echolink, etc. are not to be found.

I did find some stuff and downloaded it but I can't figure out how to install it.

Advice? A bump in the right direction? Loud guffaws? Anything?

Thanks in advance!

What type of package? Some packages, when decompressed, have an installation script file that you execute from a command line. If the filename extension is .deb, all you need to do is double-click it!

EchoLink is in the repository, sort of. It's EchoIRLP. I wouldn't bother, much easier to install WINE, and then the EchoLink windows binary.

Rig control is "hamlib". And, it's utilized by most major Digi packages (Like FLDigi).

Weather Radar: www.noaa.gov :)

With Ubuntu, once you download the Deb file, double click it, and select "Install". Be wary of sources (Just like on Windows).

If it's a "tar" file, the process is a little more complex. Could be as little as:
# tar xvf MyNewSoftwarePackage.tar ./MyNewSoftwarePackageDirectory
# ./MyNewSoftwarePackageDirectory/install_scripts_name_goes_here.sh

Or:

# tar xvf MyNewSoftwarePackage.tax ./MyNewSoftwarePackageDirectory
# cd ./MyNewSoftwarePackageDirectory
# make
# sudo make install

If it's not a deb file, there are usually install instructions where you downloaded it from. Example, Xastir (I build it myself, since the Ubuntu Repos are old versions):
http://www.xastir.org/wiki/HowTo:Ubuntu_10.04