Problem #1:
LICQ doesn't work for me. so i hear about GAIM and when it comes to ./configure-ing it i run into a bunch of missing things

checking for working aclocal... missing
and same for autoconf, automake, autoheader, makeinfo

then i get
cheking or gcc... no
checking for cc... no
configure:error: no acceptable cc found in $PATH

so i read the readme. oh doh! i dont have gtk+ 1.2.5 but under the download section (at www.gtk.org) for 1.2 it has a dozen of files. should i download all of them? one of them? if so, which one?

Problem #2:
yesternight i booted up and konqueror and shell worked fine. then today.. i booted up kmail worked fine.. i shutdown because i left the house. and came back, booted up and all three died on me (i presume) what happens is that the cursor changes and flashes (indicating work i suppose) but seconds later, it just stops and disappears.

if anyone can point me in the right direction of what to read to understand what's going on? (or a brief step by step would be nice too ) I would be much much appreciative!

--i hope this isn't too much to read

relating to problem #1:
the errors from the configure script do not indicate that you don't have gtk+(which doesn't mean you do... u have to check)... missing things are okay... as long as the script can run and complete configuring your box for the new package. if it encounters errors, it will stop. in your case, the configure script is looking for gcc (or cc) and cant' find it on your machine. this is the C compiler. if u don't have it, rpm it from your installation cd. it's one of the easier solutions.

some extra info:
in future installations of linux, do install the C/C++ compilers and the perl stuff. most unix/linux stuff are made using C/C++/perl. so if you want to grab a tarball from the net and install it, you'd prbably need these.

btw, i don't understand problem #2... could you word it more clearly please? thanks...

problem #2 (in detail)
i click on the.. let's say shell button on the KDE panel. the system will run for a second. the shell window will pop up and then promptly close without giving me a chance to do anything.
with konqueror and kmail i click on their respective buttons and the system runs and runs and then suddenly doesn't run anymore. as if it's encountered an error and shut the program off automatically.

i hope that's enough clarification gui10 much thanks for the C complier solution.

hm... i'm not very sure but did you fiddle with your fstab file after you finished your installation? i think kde is installed in the /opt directory on redhat and if that directory is in a read-only partition, you'll probably have those kinds of problems that you mentioned. however, i must qualify that this is only one of several possibilities...

here's how to find out:
check the fstab file (type 'cat /etc/fstab').
from there, you can see how your partitions are laid out on your machine. you'll be able to see stuff like:
/dev/hda1 /boot ext2 defaults 1 1
/dev/hda2 / ext2 noexec 1 1

etc etc.

the main thing is to know which partition your kde directory is in. see the fstab file and check the 4th column of the relevant partition... ie.
/dev/hda1 /boot ext2 defaults 1 1
if your kde directory is in a partition where the 4th column is 'noexec', you'll have to change it to 'defaults'.

most likely (unless you have a different partitioning mindset), in rh7.2, the kde directory is in opt directory, which is directly in the / directory... there's a security concern for changing / to 'defaults' but there's a way around it...

but before i go too far (as this may not be the problem, perhaps you try this first and see if it works), i'll stop here

If I remember correctly RH 7.2, for reasons unknown to me, was shipped with a buggy C compiler...That would explain your problems.

is that right? i've yet to encounter problems with my rh7.2 box where C compiling is concerned... what bugs?

I don't know exactally but when I was downloading some RPM's I stayed away from the source ones because on the site it said that you need to d/l a stable version of the C compiler. The version included is very unstable from my undrestanding. I wouldn't be able to tell you what's wrong with it becaie I don't know any C or for that matter I don't know any programming, I just liked installing from source becaue it was a little more challanging that downloading a RPM and clicking on it and having it install all on its own... Good luck with it though.

ok thanks!

typed cat /etc/fstab

and it says...
LABEL=/ / ext3 defaults 1 1

question (unrelated)
when i turn on a gui (kde) the command line is still running typing out all the errors (and executions it goes through) but if im in the gui i can't see it. is there a way (or file or place) where i can view it? because that would help with troubleshooting..

question
what is the command line mode called? just text-mode? or bash?

thanks for all the help!

the command line is known as... "the command line". u can also say "text-mode" if you want. some people call it "elitist", yet others "morbidity" though i have yet to hear someone say "stark raving mad" .

bash is a kind of scripting language(i think), like tcsh, zsh, ksh etc etc that is used to execute commands.

as for viewing those files, yes there is a file to view it... though unfortunately i can't remember where. i'm at work now, so i don't have the time to look into it. Maybe later... but you would learn a lot more if you looked around every little file in your machine... (takes a long time but... in the long run, it benefits you).

i think try doing a "find X11" and check out everything in it. if not, explore everything in the /proc directory... but i can't really recall now... sorry about that.

lol. your post reminds me of something that i used to say to people who come to me for windows help. i say "just poke around and try different options. that's the best way to learn"
and now im in that spot, poking around this OS

anyway
update: got my mouse scroll to work (am proud of myself) installed GAIM through rpm (it works!)

question (new): if a program starts to hang or freeze (g'forbid) is there a "ctrl + alt + del" type of thing to force it to shut down?

*trots off to her /proc directory*
thanks!

Did you get you're shell and Konq... working again?
I ran into the same problem in a lab...

I found out if I ran the gnome shell ((kde and gnome installed)
and started it from there it ran.

Also I think the error I was getting was can't start dr. Konqi
or something.

Ironic part is we use kde there because the gnome panel crashes most of the time.

I think it's hardware. Same thing on 80% of machines. At home I have none of the probs

i think the command is "kill"... do a "man kill" coz i can't remember the entire syntax... (you can see the frequency of me needing this command coz i have forgotten it! lol) also, if you're in X windows(whichever windows manager u are using ie. gnome, kde, wmaker, blackbox etc etc) there may be something called "x-kill" or "kill" from your popup menu. just click on it and then click on the app that hanged.

if X-windows hangs on you and you can't get out, press "ctrl+alt+backspace" to go back to the "command line".

all of the above should be good enough for you to restart whatever u want. only in the most dire of cases do you need the 3 finger smash...

the 3 finger smash(or "ctrl+alt+del") is an equivalent of "shutdown -r now" (which is the almost same as "reboot") but there's only one chance at it ie. there won't be a message box popping up asking you if you're sure... you'll lose your unsaved data and unless you have a file journalling system, things may get messed up...

yeap yeap im getting that error too. agh!! i didn't fiddle with anything beforehand! (at least i think i didn't) so if anyone can figure it out. please let me know (via ICQ or post)

much thanks for the "kill" i found kde system guard which has it included (nifty!)

update: tried opening shell again and it gives the following error
"The application Konsole (konsole) crashed and caused the signal 11 (SIGSEGV)"
*looks at error with glazed eyes* wha? huh? .. well umm.. any help would be good i know im asking a bunch of questions and not generating any answers myself. ..but...
any help would be appreciated!!!