Whenever I try to install a program from source code (tarball, gzipped, et cetera,) I get errors. I have tried all sorts of programs; they all do the same thing: fail.

Here are just three examples:

[qt-x11-opensource-src-4.4.0] ( after running ./configure from its directory - successfully, I might add: )
{
jaredtbrees@multiboot:~/Downloads/qt-x11-opensource-src-4.4.0$ make
cd src/tools/moc/ && make -f Makefile
make[1]: Entering directory `/home/jaredtbrees/Downloads/qt-x11-opensource-src-4.4.0/src/tools/moc'
make[1]: Nothing to be done for `first'.
make[1]: Leaving directory `/home/jaredtbrees/Downloads/qt-x11-opensource-src-4.4.0/src/tools/moc'
cd src/tools/rcc/ && make -f Makefile
make[1]: Entering directory `/home/jaredtbrees/Downloads/qt-x11-opensource-src-4.4.0/src/tools/rcc'
make[1]: Nothing to be done for `first'.
make[1]: Leaving directory `/home/jaredtbrees/Downloads/qt-x11-opensource-src-4.4.0/src/tools/rcc'
cd src/tools/uic/ && make -f Makefile
make[1]: Entering directory `/home/jaredtbrees/Downloads/qt-x11-opensource-src-4.4.0/src/tools/uic'
make[1]: Nothing to be done for `first'.
make[1]: Leaving directory `/home/jaredtbrees/Downloads/qt-x11-opensource-src-4.4.0/src/tools/uic'
cd src/corelib/ && make -f Makefile
make[1]: Entering directory `/home/jaredtbrees/Downloads/qt-x11-opensource-src-4.4.0/src/corelib'
make[1]: Nothing to be done for `first'.
make[1]: Leaving directory `/home/jaredtbrees/Downloads/qt-x11-opensource-src-4.4.0/src/corelib'
cd src/xml/ && make -f Makefile
make[1]: Entering directory `/home/jaredtbrees/Downloads/qt-x11-opensource-src-4.4.0/src/xml'
/home/jaredtbrees/Downloads/qt-x11-opensource-src-4.4.0/bin/qmake -spec ../../mkspecs/linux-g++ -unix -o Makefile xml.pro
make[1]: Leaving directory `/home/jaredtbrees/Downloads/qt-x11-opensource-src-4.4.0/src/xml'
make[1]: Entering directory `/home/jaredtbrees/Downloads/qt-x11-opensource-src-4.4.0/src/xml'
make[1]: Nothing to be done for `first'.
make[1]: Leaving directory `/home/jaredtbrees/Downloads/qt-x11-opensource-src-4.4.0/src/xml'
cd src/network/ && make -f Makefile
make[1]: Entering directory `/home/jaredtbrees/Downloads/qt-x11-opensource-src-4.4.0/src/network'
/home/jaredtbrees/Downloads/qt-x11-opensource-src-4.4.0/bin/qmake -spec ../../mkspecs/linux-g++ -unix -o Makefile network.pro
make[1]: Leaving directory `/home/jaredtbrees/Downloads/qt-x11-opensource-src-4.4.0/src/network'
make[1]: Entering directory `/home/jaredtbrees/Downloads/qt-x11-opensource-src-4.4.0/src/network'
make[1]: Nothing to be done for `first'.
make[1]: Leaving directory `/home/jaredtbrees/Downloads/qt-x11-opensource-src-4.4.0/src/network'
cd src/gui/ && make -f Makefile
make[1]: Entering directory `/home/jaredtbrees/Downloads/qt-x11-opensource-src-4.4.0/src/gui'
/home/jaredtbrees/Downloads/qt-x11-opensource-src-4.4.0/bin/qmake -spec ../../mkspecs/linux-g++ -unix -o Makefile gui.pro
make[1]: Leaving directory `/home/jaredtbrees/Downloads/qt-x11-opensource-src-4.4.0/src/gui'
make[1]: Entering directory `/home/jaredtbrees/Downloads/qt-x11-opensource-src-4.4.0/src/gui'
rm -f libQtGui.so.4.4.0 libQtGui.so libQtGui.so.4 libQtGui.so.4.4
g++ -Wl,--no-undefined -Wl,-rpath,/usr/local/Trolltech/Qt-4.4.0/lib -Wl,-rpath,/usr/local/Trolltech/Qt-4.4.0/lib -shared -Wl,-soname,libQtGui.so.4 -o libQtGui.so.4.4.0 .obj/release-shared/qdrawhelper_mmx.o .obj/release-shared/qdrawhelper_mmx3dnow.o .obj/release-shared/qdrawhelper_sse3dnow.o .obj/release-shared/qdrawhelper_sse.o .obj/release-shared/qdrawhelper_sse2.o .obj/release-shared/qaction.o .obj/release-shared/qactiongroup.o .obj/release-shared/qapplication.o .obj/release-shared/qboxlayout.o .obj/release-shared/qclipboard.o .obj/release-shared/qcursor.o .obj/release-shared/qdrag.o .obj/release-shared/qdnd.o .obj/release-shared/qevent.o .obj/release-shared/qformlayout.o .obj/release-shared/qgridlayout.o .obj/release-shared/qkeysequence.o .obj/release-shared/qlayout.o .obj/release-shared/qlayoutengine.o .obj/release-shared/qlayoutitem.o .obj/release-shared/qmime.o .obj/release-shared/qpalette.o .obj/release-shared/qshortcut.o .obj/release-shared/qshortcutmap.o .obj/release-shared/qsound.o .obj/release-shared/qstackedlayout.o .obj/release-shared/qtooltip.o .obj/release-shared/qguivariant.o .obj/release-shared/qwhatsthis.o

.
.
. (Ommited because of length)
.
.


.obj/release-shared/moc_qximinputcontext_p.o .obj/release-shared/moc_qgraphicsitemanimation.o .obj/release-shared/moc_qgraphicswidget.o .obj/release-shared/moc_qsystemtrayicon.o .obj/release-shared/moc_qcompleter_p.o .obj/release-shared/moc_qundogroup.o .obj/release-shared/moc_qundostack.o .obj/release-shared/moc_qundostack_p.o .obj/release-shared/moc_qundoview.o .obj/release-shared/qrc_qstyle.o -L/home/jaredtbrees/Downloads/qt-x11-opensource-src-4.4.0/lib -L/usr/X11R6/lib -lpng -lQtCore -L/home/jaredtbrees/Downloads/qt-x11-opensource-src-4.4.0/lib -lz -lrt -lpthread -lXext -lX11 -lm -ldl
/usr/bin/ld: cannot find -lXext
collect2: ld returned 1 exit status
make[1]: *** [../../lib/libQtGui.so.4.4.0] Error 1
make[1]: Leaving directory `/home/jaredtbrees/Downloads/qt-x11-opensource-src-4.4.0/src/gui'
make: *** [sub-gui-make_default-ordered] Error 2
jaredtbrees@multiboot:~/Downloads/qt-x11-opensource-src-4.4.0$
}


[vsftpd-1.2.1] ( no configure file - INSTALL file says to run "make install", I do both "make" and "make install" in case it might help you determine what's wrong: )

{
jaredtbrees@multiboot:~/Downloads/vsftpd-1.2.1$ make
gcc -c sysdeputil.c -O2 -Wall -W -Wshadow -idirafter dummyinc
sysdeputil.c:152: error: expected declaration specifiers or ‘...’ before ‘capset’
sysdeputil.c:152: error: expected declaration specifiers or ‘...’ before ‘header’
sysdeputil.c:152: error: expected declaration specifiers or ‘...’ before ‘data’
In file included from sysdeputil.c:160:
/usr/include/sys/sendfile.h: In function ‘_syscall2’:
/usr/include/sys/sendfile.h:35: error: storage class specified for parameter ‘sendfile’
sysdeputil.c:176: error: storage class specified for parameter ‘environ’
sysdeputil.c:177: error: storage class specified for parameter ‘s_proctitle_space’
sysdeputil.c:177: error: parameter ‘s_proctitle_space’ is initialized
sysdeputil.c:178: error: storage class specified for parameter ‘s_proctitle_inited’
sysdeputil.c:178: error: parameter ‘s_proctitle_inited’ is initialized
sysdeputil.c:179: error: storage class specified for parameter ‘s_p_proctitle’
sysdeputil.c:179: error: parameter ‘s_p_proctitle’ is initialized
sysdeputil.c:191: error: storage class specified for parameter ‘do_sendfile’
sysdeputil.c:192: error: storage class specified for parameter ‘vsf_sysutil_setproctitle_internal’
sysdeputil.c:193: error: storage class specified for parameter ‘s_proctitle_prefix_str’
sysdeputil.c:195: error: storage class specified for parameter ‘vsf_insert_uwtmp’
sysdeputil.c:196: error: storage class specified for parameter ‘vsf_remove_uwtmp’
sysdeputil.c:203: error: expected ‘=’, ‘,’, ‘;’, ‘asm’ or ‘__attribute__’ before ‘{’ token
sysdeputil.c:406: error: expected ‘=’, ‘,’, ‘;’, ‘asm’ or ‘__attribute__’ before ‘{’ token
sysdeputil.c:444: error: storage class specified for parameter ‘do_checkcap’
sysdeputil.c:448: error: expected ‘=’, ‘,’, ‘;’, ‘asm’ or ‘__attribute__’ before ‘{’ token
sysdeputil.c:467: error: expected ‘=’, ‘,’, ‘;’, ‘asm’ or ‘__attribute__’ before ‘{’ token
sysdeputil.c:484: error: expected ‘=’, ‘,’, ‘;’, ‘asm’ or ‘__attribute__’ before ‘{’ token
sysdeputil.c:497: error: expected ‘=’, ‘,’, ‘;’, ‘asm’ or ‘__attribute__’ before ‘{’ token
sysdeputil.c:574: error: expected ‘=’, ‘,’, ‘;’, ‘asm’ or ‘__attribute__’ before ‘{’ token
sysdeputil.c:611: error: expected ‘=’, ‘,’, ‘;’, ‘asm’ or ‘__attribute__’ before ‘{’ token
sysdeputil.c:764: error: expected ‘=’, ‘,’, ‘;’, ‘asm’ or ‘__attribute__’ before ‘{’ token
sysdeputil.c:771: error: expected ‘=’, ‘,’, ‘;’, ‘asm’ or ‘__attribute__’ before ‘{’ token
sysdeputil.c:777: error: expected ‘=’, ‘,’, ‘;’, ‘asm’ or ‘__attribute__’ before ‘{’ token
sysdeputil.c:824: error: expected ‘=’, ‘,’, ‘;’, ‘asm’ or ‘__attribute__’ before ‘{’ token
sysdeputil.c:857: error: expected ‘=’, ‘,’, ‘;’, ‘asm’ or ‘__attribute__’ before ‘{’ token
sysdeputil.c:898: error: expected ‘=’, ‘,’, ‘;’, ‘asm’ or ‘__attribute__’ before ‘{’ token
sysdeputil.c:903: error: expected ‘=’, ‘,’, ‘;’, ‘asm’ or ‘__attribute__’ before ‘{’ token
sysdeputil.c:944: error: expected ‘=’, ‘,’, ‘;’, ‘asm’ or ‘__attribute__’ before ‘{’ token
sysdeputil.c:980: error: expected ‘=’, ‘,’, ‘;’, ‘asm’ or ‘__attribute__’ before ‘{’ token
sysdeputil.c:1096: error: storage class specified for parameter ‘s_uwtmp_inserted’
sysdeputil.c:1097: error: storage class specified for parameter ‘s_utent’
sysdeputil.c:1102: error: expected ‘=’, ‘,’, ‘;’, ‘asm’ or ‘__attribute__’ before ‘{’ token
sysdeputil.c:1141: error: expected ‘=’, ‘,’, ‘;’, ‘asm’ or ‘__attribute__’ before ‘{’ token
sysdeputil.c:1157: error: old-style parameter declarations in prototyped function definition
sysdeputil.c:152: error: parameter name omitted
sysdeputil.c:152: error: parameter name omitted
sysdeputil.c:152: error: parameter name omitted
sysdeputil.c:1157: error: expected ‘{’ at end of input
make: *** [sysdeputil.o] Error 1
jaredtbrees@multiboot:~/Downloads/vsftpd-1.2.1$ make install
if [ -x /usr/local/sbin ]; then \
install -m 755 vsftpd /usr/local/sbin/vsftpd; \
else \
install -m 755 vsftpd /usr/sbin/vsftpd; fi
install: cannot stat `vsftpd': No such file or directory
make: *** [install] Error 1
jaredtbrees@multiboot:~/Downloads/vsftpd-1.2.1$ sudo make install
[sudo] password for jaredtbrees:
if [ -x /usr/local/sbin ]; then \
install -m 755 vsftpd /usr/local/sbin/vsftpd; \
else \
install -m 755 vsftpd /usr/sbin/vsftpd; fi
install: cannot stat `vsftpd': No such file or directory
make: *** [install] Error 1
jaredtbrees@multiboot:~/Downloads/vsftpd-1.2.1$
}

[vnc_unixsrc/Xvnc] ( after successful configuration, spits out more information than can be stored in terminal, the last chunk of which is: )

{
-DGCCUSESGAS -DSTATIC_COLOR -DAVOID_GLYPHBLT -DPIXPRIV -DNDEBUG -DFUNCPROTO=15 -DNARROWPROTO -DDDXOSINIT -DSERVER_LOCK -DDDXOSFATALERROR -DDDXTIME -DPART_NET zlib.c
rm -f tight.o
gcc -c -O2 -fno-strength-reduce -ansi -pedantic -I. -I../../../.././/exports/include/X11 -I../../../.././/include/fonts -I../../../.././/exports/include/X11 -I../../cfb -I../../mfb -I../../mi -I../../include -I../../os -I../../../.././/../include -I/usr/local/include -I../../../.././ -I../../../.././/exports/include -Dlinux -D__i386__ -D_POSIX_C_SOURCE=199309L -D_POSIX_SOURCE -D_XOPEN_SOURCE=500L -D_BSD_SOURCE -D_SVID_SOURCE -D_REENTRANT -DSHAPE -DGCCUSESGAS -DSTATIC_COLOR -DAVOID_GLYPHBLT -DPIXPRIV -DNDEBUG -DFUNCPROTO=15 -DNARROWPROTO -DDDXOSINIT -DSERVER_LOCK -DDDXOSFATALERROR -DDDXTIME -DPART_NET tight.c
tight.c:29:21: error: jpeglib.h: No such file or directory
tight.c:172: error: expected ‘)’ before ‘cinfo’
tight.c:173: error: expected ‘=’, ‘,’, ‘;’, ‘asm’ or ‘__attribute__’ before ‘JpegEmptyOutputBuffer’
tight.c:174: error: expected ‘)’ before ‘cinfo’
tight.c:175: error: expected ‘)’ before ‘cinfo’
tight.c: In function ‘SendJpegRect’:
tight.c:1627: error: storage size of ‘cinfo’ isn’t known
tight.c:1628: error: storage size of ‘jerr’ isn’t known
tight.c:1630: error: ‘JSAMPROW’ undeclared (first use in this function)
tight.c:1630: error: (Each undeclared identifier is reported only once
tight.c:1630: error: for each function it appears in.)
tight.c:1630: error: expected ‘;’ before ‘rowPointer’
tight.c:1631: warning: ISO C90 forbids mixed declarations and code
tight.c:1640: error: ‘rowPointer’ undeclared (first use in this function)
tight.c:1648: error: ‘JCS_RGB’ undeclared (first use in this function)
tight.c: At top level:
tight.c:1764: error: expected ‘)’ before ‘cinfo’
tight.c:1772: error: expected ‘=’, ‘,’, ‘;’, ‘asm’ or ‘__attribute__’ before ‘JpegEmptyOutputBuffer’
tight.c:1782: error: expected ‘)’ before ‘cinfo’
tight.c:1788: error: expected ‘)’ before ‘cinfo’
make[3]: *** [tight.o] Error 1
make[3]: Leaving directory `/home/jaredtbrees/Downloads/vnc_unixsrc/Xvnc/programs/Xserver/hw/vnc'
make[2]: *** [hw/vnc] Error 2
make[2]: Leaving directory `/home/jaredtbrees/Downloads/vnc_unixsrc/Xvnc/programs/Xserver'
make[1]: *** [all] Error 2
make[1]: Leaving directory `/home/jaredtbrees/Downloads/vnc_unixsrc/Xvnc/programs'
make: *** [all] Error 2
jaredtbrees@multiboot:~/Downloads/vnc_unixsrc/Xvnc$
}

Anyone know why this is?

you seem to have the libxext development files missing.

When you download project source without using apt-get (e.g. a tar.gz file from some web-site, or using SVN/CVS) you need to satisfy build dependencies manually.

Well-documented projects will hopefully tell you what libraries and so on are required to build the project. This is often done as a simple list in the INSTALL or README file.

Note that in most Linux distros, packages will be split - one for runtime use and one for building software. Whenever you build from source, you need the development version of a library as well as the runtime version. The development version includes header files and other things which are only needed when compiling software.

For example, if the project you are building depends on Xext, you need only the libxext package in Ubuntu to run a pre-built version of the program, but if you want to build it from source, you will also need the libxext-dev package.

In Debian and Ubuntu and their derivatives, the convention is to have a -dev suffix on a package name for the development version. I think on Redhat and other main-stream RPM distros they add a -devel suffix (please someone correct this if I am wrong).

check to se if you have build-essentials installed

also check the output of the ./configure file,
that will normally tell you exactly what it diddnt find

To: Neverendingo - I get the following error when trying to install "libxext6_1.0.3-1build1_i386.deb"

"Error: A later version is already installed"



and to: matthewg42 - I get the following error when trying to install "libxext-dev_1.0.3-1build1_i386.deb"

"Error: Dependency is not satisfiable: libxext6"

Any more ideas?

It seems to me like a lose-lose situation: Development version needs normal version, normal version seems already installed!


Also, what do I do about my other two programs I have listed?

Why are you manually downloading and installing .deb files? That's not generally the linux way. If you use apt-get, it will do all the hard stuff for you. Do it like this:

Open a terminal and use the command:
A GUI-based alternative is to select the same package name using Synaptic package manager (from the administration menu). If you prefer synaptic, that's fine, it's just that in this forum, it's easier for me to tell you a terminal command which you can copy-paste.

That you are trying to download and install individual .deb files suggests that you are stuck somehow in a windows mindset of manually downloading an installer file and installing it yourself. That's really making life hard for yourself! For the vast majority of sortware, it's just a single apt-get away!

No, actually.

I had tried to use sudo apt-get, but it couldn't find the package. I don't remember what I had typer in, but when I tried your version, (sudo apt-get install libxext-dev,) it worked! I think I might have been trying to include a version number, but can't remember for sure.

I did, however, use Windows previous to Linux. I finally (not soon enough) got tired of the hourly (minimum frequency) crashes that BSODed, about once a week I had to reinstall XP Pro. (How is that "Professional"?)

I think I got Qt installed successfully.

Thanks.

Do you have any ideas for the other two?

for vsfptd: With the VNC viewer, I'm not sure what features you want. There are several vnc viewers to choose from which are pre-packaged.

In general, you don't need to install from source unless you have some special requirements, like needing an unstable development release of a program, or in the rare cases when there is nothing in the repositories which will do what you want. The rule of thumb is to use binary packages from the repositories unless you really need to do something else.

I'll try to remember that. Thanks for all your help.