How to use the make command
 

Hello,

a friend of mine gave me a .tar.gz file which contains a bunch of C sourcefiles and a makefile. I don't get how to use the make command to create an executable out of those files. What arguments do I have to give the make command?

The tar.gz should have come with a README or INSTALL file that you should read for directions.

As I said, it only has a makefile and C sourcecode.

Is there a file named "Makefile"? If so, just run "make" and it should build. If it doesn't ask your friend for directions.

First change your working directory to that into which you've unpacked the source code. Look to see if it contains a file called "configure". If it does, enter the command
./configure
If you don't need to do that, or after you've done it, enter
make
When that's finished, enter either of the following (the first for Ubuntu)
sudo make install
su -c "make install"
and it's done!

If you get a complaint that you are missing some dependency, you should be able to get that from your distro's repository. If the complaint comes from running make, run
make clean
to remove all the work done so far so that it can start from scratch when you've got the dependency.

When all is done, have a look in the make file (or perhaps a separate "install" file) to see if it mentions any documentation installed. Keep the file, because if you want to remove the program (if you ever want a new version) the make file may allow you to do it with
make uninstall
If it doesn't, it still lists all the files that were installed and where they went.

Thanks, got it.