I have been getting used to Linux over the past 2 weeks but there seems to be a looming problem that will not go away. I can't seem to compile any programs, in particular gxine if any has ever used it. People tell me i need to type ./configure which gives me this error

checking for gcc... no
checking for cc... no
checking for cc... no
checking for cl... no
configure: error: no acceptable C compiler found in $PATH

I know i have the gcc package installed because i ran it off the cd and tried to install the package again but it prompted me telling me it was present

can someone help me to understand what i am doing wrong and how i can easily install software thanks

Which distro? If it is Mandrake or RedHat, try using their package management tools to make sure that you really do have gcc installed. If it appears that you do, try removing the packages for gcc, g++, etc., then reinstalling them.

ya sorry, i should have mentioned its Red Hat 9

When I tried RedHat, I had all sorts of problems with packages that I thought I installed not being installed. And RedHat 9's package install tool is terrible, doesn't allow you to select individual packages. I ended up having to put in the RedHat CD and boot into the setup program, then select the "Upgrade" option to get pack to package install, and then click where it says "Individual Package Selection" or something like that to get in there and select what packages I wanted. It's lame as hell that you have to do that, but oh well. Things like that are why I run Slackware now.

thats really strange ....you say you installed gcc? try checking /usr/bin/gcc or type "whereis gcc" on the command line. you may have to point the ./configure script to where gcc is located...although i have no clue why it would be anywhere other than /usr/bin/
its true that rh's package managment isn't all its cracked up to be. did you get an error message when you installed red hat saying "corrupt package....aborting" or something along that line?