Installing SPSS 16 Linux on Ubuntu 8.10

As a Psych student I absolutely need this program.  I did find that sometimes I got numbers that didn’t make sense.  So check to make sure your install is coming up with numbers that match another machine (check means, correlations)

Make sure it’s for Linux. Here is how I installed it on my machine. I have also includes instructions on how to install it so it still can work with all the desktop effects such as transitioning between virtual desktops.

1. Open up the Terminal (Applications < Accessories < Terminal)

Type in:

export LIBXCB_ALLOW_SLOPPY_LOCK=true

(you wont see any changes so don’t expect that)

2. Now insert your SPSS for Linux CD. Drag the setup.bin to the Desktop so it can copy the file (according to another guide you can double click on it too.. didn’t work for me)

3. For now lets turn off Compiz. Go to System < Prefernces < Appearance Click on the Visual Effects Tab and click on the none option.

4. Now back to the Terminal type in the following:

sudo apt-get install libstdc++5

then

cd Desktop

Notice the Capital “D”

then

sudo ./setup.bin

5. Go through all the steps of installation (be patient, some steps take a long time). One tip, the default folder did not work as a place for the installation. I created a Desktop folder named “SPSS16” (yes with caps). This worked better and made it easier to access the files I needed later on.

SPSS is Installed! Now if you want it to work with Compiz do the following

6. Open up your SPSS16 folder then the bin folder then find spss ( It’s in lower case, not upper case). Open the file with a text editor (click on it, then choose display). Now you should have a text document open. That starts with #!/bin/sh

After this on a separate line type in

export AWT_TOOLKIT=”MToolkit”

It should look like this now

#!/bin/sh
export AWT_TOOLKIT=”MToolkit”
cd “/home/user/Desktop/SPSS16″
#”/home/user/Desktop/SPSS16/bin/spss”
exec “/home/user/Desktop/SPSS16/bin/SPSS” $@

Save this file

7. Now click on the spss file (still lower case) and it should launch! Go back to apperance and turn on destops effects.

Trouble shooting:

On some installs I found that launching the program right after the install (by click on the SPSS file in the bin folder.. make sure it’s all in caps) it worked after making all the changes to make it work with the Desktop effects.

Congrats, you are done.

Sources:

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=724613

http://forum.ubuntu-fr.org/viewtopic.php?pid=1534272 (use babelfish translator. It’s in French)