stupid noobie problems
 

Im running mandrivia 10, all updates installed.

1. Installing programs. Ive already read the "read this first" post at the top. Tar, make, ./configure etc arent getting the job done. The program i am trying to install right now is called Mindless Automation. I can untar and unzip it into a folder, but all i see are .c and .h files. I know these are header files and source code, but i dont know what do do with gcc exactly or what to compile first. There is no help on the programs page. Theres already a Makefile there, but when i try to use it I get pages and pages of all kinds of errors

Also, I would like to update OO to version two, but it comes in RPM format and im not sure how to use it. This brings me to stupid noobie problem two...

2. I know that linux uses some combination of file extentions and attributes to mark files. How widespread is this? I mean, is the practice of using non-file permission attributes(instead of like, .exe) exclusive to executables? is there any sure way of knowing if you are looking at one?

google. Search here on how to install apps, this has been asked sooooo many times.

mandrake uses urpmi, search for mandrake repos and add them, then you can upgrade ooo easily

A few comments...

The errors are explaining why make isn't getting the job done. What errors are you getting exactly? They are most likely indicating you don't have development packages installed to be able to compile source, or you are missing some dependencies to build the program.

To my understanding, file extensions are never used to mark files in Linux in the same sense as they are under Windows. If you want to determine a file's type, use the "file" command, as in "file filename" (see "man file" for more details). To determine permissions (including who is allowed to execute the file), use "ls -l".