Re: How to install app from source code?
On Thu, 22 Feb 2001 15:41:39 EST, DTi4565459@aol.com wrote:
>I can start gnome-session, then mount CDROM #4 from 6 disk set, and then find
>the .gz and .dsc files. But that's as far as I can get. Which debian
>install untility will work with these packages? I could try to do it from
>command line if that would help. If I click on a .tar.gz file the Olde M$h*t
>way in the Gnome File Manager, the source code will display as text, but no
>install program gets initiated.
Most programs distributed this way are source. That means
you have to compile them. TTBOMK, there is no "install
program" which will do all of the work for you. make
handles a lot of it, but you still have to walk through the
process on the command line.
You need to copy the .gz files to your hard drive. I
usually use /usr/src but that's optional. Then, untar and
unzip the source using
tar -xzpvf myfile.tar.gz
This will put the source into it's own subdirectory. Inside
that subdirectory you will usually find a README or INSTALL
file. Sometimes it will be in a /doc directory. This
should tell you exactly what you need to do to install the
compile and install the program.
Sometimes, it's as simple as running make with no arguments.
Sometimes, you have to run a series of "make" commands.
For example, compiling a kernel involves something along the
lines of:
make mrproper (or make clean)
make config (or menuconfig or xconfig)
make dep
make bzImage
make modules
make modules-install
And, of course, all this assumes that you have make, a
compiler and possibly various development packages
installed. If not, you'll have to install those packages
first but they should be available via get-apt/dpkg (or the
dselect front end). You might want to check and see if the
program you're trying to install is available as a deb
package. Some programs, however, aren't and you either
compile them or do without them. For better or worse,
Debian isn't Windows and you have to get at least a little
dirt on your hands.
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