Red Hat 8.0, relatively new computer

i'm trying to install xine and basically any standard program i can find just to get used to some of the basic commands and learn my way around linux, but this one is giving me particularly difficult times. apparently i need to install xine-lib first (why, i have no idea) and after i do it the regular xine-ui, same version, doesn't detect them, just as before i realized i needed two libraries. it give me the same message

checking for XINE-LIB version >= 0.9.10... no
*** Could not run XINE test program, checking why...
*** The test program compiled, but did not run. This usually means
*** that the run-time linker is not finding XINE or finding the wrong
*** version of XINE. If it is not finding XINE, you'll need to set your
*** LD_LIBRARY_PATH environment variable, or edit /etc/ld.so.conf to point
*** to the installed location Also, make sure you have run ldconfig if that
*** is required on your system
***
*** If you have an old version installed, it is best to remove it, although
*** you may also be able to get things to work by modifying LD_LIBRARY_PATH
***
configure: error: *** You should install xine-lib first ***


as before. personally i'm baffled. it might be partly because i have no idea how to set environment variables like PATH (PATH=$PATH:/yadda/blah:. doesn't stick unless i tinker with some .profile, right?) or this new, more confusing LD_LIBRARY_PATH. What the heck is that? Why can't xine-lib just install into a place where i won't have to do change any PATHs? why can't it come with xine-ui? i can navigate around in the terminal just fine (besides email and web browsing i do everything there pretty much) but i swear sometimes i just want to.... i can't even bring myself to type it. i've been saying i was down with linux for so long and decided i should start walking the walk, but its like linux doesn't even want me!

sorry i got distracted by my rage. would i be better off if i had some specific book or cd-rom that will teach me, could anyone recommend? or perhaps red hat's commercial-ness and (from what i hear) their tendency to stray from the beaten path of linux is what causes some of these discrepancies. would anyone recommend a less commercial version?

i've clearly asked about 18 different questions here so i'll back off and let you genius's replies roll in.....

Far from Genius, and nowhere near guru, here is my stab at a few of your questions...

LD_LIBRARY_PATH = /etc/ld.so.conf

You want to make sure that the xine-lib got installed into a path that is included in that file. If it did not, or if there is an old xine-lib file in a path which is located in one specified by that file, then you will either want to remove it, or specify it during the ./configure portion of the compile. I think once you take a peek at the ld.so.conf file, you will see exactly what I am talkin about. If not, let us know and I will be glad to further explain.

Onto the PATH. You can specify PATH EXPORTS in /etc/profile to make them system wide, or for specific users it's usually ~/.bash_profile

Onto a more "less commercial" distro. In a short attempt to not start a distro war, I will recommend Slackware. Slack seems to me the one with the most straight forward "PATH" in the /etc/profile file, and works the best with sources IMO. It's not too great on the RPM side of town, but doesn't have to be since most things are released in at least sources, then sometimes RPM's so it's not like you'd have to go without. Plus there are other options, and even the option to have RPM ability.

You are definitely down with linux, if you are command lining a lot, and enjoy that, then you just need a bit of guidance, and maybe check out a few other distros.

If you don't wanna jump on slack, you could try Debian, a very good distro itself that isn't a "Big 3" distro. Gentoo being probably my 3rd suggestion.

Anyway, hope this doesn't start a distro war as that's been done about 50 times this month already

Cool

xine isn't very easy to compile, but not that many things
are. if you're going to get good at linux, you have to
learn these things about installing software.
the xine site tells you the stuff you need, and the order
you need to install that stuff anyway.
most any software you compile will install by default
in /usr/local. a lot of software will not work right unless
it is in the same directory with other certain libraries
they depend on. in linux there are several default
directories you have for libraries and binaries. This
also gives you the possiblity to install stuff where you
want, and to have several versions of the same
software installed, without messing up other versions.

the list of directores searched for libraries is in
/etc/ld.so.conf
you can add directories to this and then type
ldconfig
and they will be added.
if you install libraries into a directory that is not in
ld.so.conf
they will not be seen, (except in rare circumstances).
you can define the directory you want stuff installed
into at configure time
like configure --prefix=/usr
in this case if it's libraries, they will be installed in /usr/lib.
if its binaries, they will be installed in /usr/bin.
you generally must type ldconfig, after installing
libraries for them to be seen, before compiling the
next package which depends on them.
make sure that /usr/local/lib is in your /etc/ld.so.conf

it takes a lot of learning to use linux well. its like a
metal shop full of dangerous and wonderful tools.
windows is like a stick and a rock.

after installing xine-lib, simply type "ldconfig" at the root command line. The other packages will then see it and install.

xine comes as part of mandrake 9

I tryed xine and I thought it sucked so i got mplayer instead and I thought it was a lot better then xine. you might want to try it.

just get youre redhat 7.3 disk 2 and look in the rpm folder and find the xine package and double click on it let it install and you're done. unless you did too much monkeying around trying to install it this should work flawlessly.