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athlonxpguy · September 17th, 2003, 01:37 PM

Can anyone recommend where I can get help on learning to compile programs for Linux? Like when you download the source tarball and then need to compile it.

Thanks

Agent_Embryo · September 17th, 2003, 01:52 PM

Usually you just

* download the tarball to a suitable directory,
* do: "tar zxvf filename.tgz" (if it's gzipped)
* go into the directory where the source was extracted
* type "./configure" this runs a script that configures the source for your system
* once finished type "make"
* and then when that's finished you can do "make install"

This is a quick and dirty method. I'm sure there are better ways but this has worked for me. Good Luck.

athlonxpguy · September 17th, 2003, 02:20 PM

Thanks for the reply. Does the configure script usually come with the source? Also, with Mandrake (the one I am currently using), what developer packages would or should I normally install?

I am no programmer, so please be patient

Agent_Embryo · September 17th, 2003, 04:08 PM

Yes, the configure script is usually in the directory of the unpacked tarball.

If you installed the default developer packages you should be fine. I'm not a programmer eighter...

nukes · September 17th, 2003, 04:51 PM

The developer packages are required if you need to build stuff from source. If you're just installing RPMs and don't program, you don't need them (for the most part)
They contain stuff like headers and docs about the libraries and programs. I would normally install the dev packages for all libraries that I install, because I am a coder and it saves headaches when configure can't find a file it needs while building from a tarball.

Quote:

Originally posted by Agent_Embryo
Usually you just

* download the tarball to a suitable directory,
* do: "tar zxvf filename.tgz" (if it's gzipped)
* go into the directory where the source was extracted
* type "./configure" this runs a script that configures the source for your system
* once finished type "make"
* and then when that's finished you can do "make install"

This is a quick and dirty method. I'm sure there are better ways but this has worked for me. Good Luck.

While this does work, I feel I should point a bit out about some points that you've missed.
to do "make install" you need to be root.
The configure script also takes command line arguments, so you select what features of the software you want to build. Do "./configure --help" for more info. The most used option is the --prefix= one. This says where to install the program to. Normally this defaults to /usr/local which is ok for some things, but others you need to set prefix to either /usr or even / depending on the program or library. Especially if you're upgrading an older one as /usr/local isn't always in everyones path, and the guidelines are a bit fuzzy as to why its there.

athlonxpguy · September 17th, 2003, 04:52 PM

Good stuff. I have noticed that some tarballs do not have configure scripts, just a makefile. What is done with those?

nukes · September 18th, 2003, 04:27 PM

just "make"
Some will have a README/INSTALL file so have a look there, its always a good place to start

You can view it with:
"less README"
or "less INSTALL"
press Q to exit the pager.

athlonxpguy · September 18th, 2003, 05:58 PM

I just compiled my first program...whoohoo

Also used URPMI, that is so cool! Another neat program is CheckInstall. I have got the hang of this now, thanks again all.

Lemon[H]ead · September 18th, 2003, 09:46 PM

a lot of the time after you extract the program, the details on how to compile/install are in the file INSTALL or README. After downloading and extracting, you often just have to do less INSTALL or less README to see the installation instructions.