you can uncompress the openacs-release.tar.gz file you downloaded into a different location... and then copy or move the directory notes from that newly uncompressed location to /web/yourserver/packages, following are the exact steps, download openacs-release.tar.gz to tmp unless you already have it there:
# cd /tmp
# tar xzf openacs-release.tar.gz
# mv openacs-4/packages/notes /web/yourserver/packages/
# rm -rf openacs-4
(this is to delete the newley created directory in tmp, not your main /web/yourserver/ directory)... be careful
