./configure, make, make install

Echo Kilo · 12-22-2004, 11:53 AM

./configure
make
make install

I saw that you must do the above to install some software. What exaclty is this doing?

Is this recompilling the kernel?

Can you compile a program from source without recompiling the kernel source?

XavierP · 12-22-2004, 12:02 PM

./configure = configure the make file for your system
make = make the make file for your system
make install = installs the whole thing to your system

I can't see how that would reconfigure a kernel, unless you can tell us what the program is and what it does/is supposed to do.

Dark_Helmet · 12-22-2004, 12:31 PM

I wrote a reply about the whole software installation process in another thread. If you'd like to take a look at it, here's the link:

http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...hreadid=192344

It's basically the same thing as what XavierP said, but with some more detail thrown in.

JunctaJuvant · 12-22-2004, 12:57 PM

Also, you can open the "configure" file in a text editor. It may also provide some detailed comments/hints.

oneandoneis2 · 12-23-2004, 02:38 AM

Quote:

I saw that you must do the above to install some software. What exaclty is this doing?

That's how you compile from source code. The Configure bit works out your hardware, directories, configuration options etc. The Make bit compiles the software, and the Install bit moves the compiled software into the appropriate places.

Or something along those lines

Quote:

Is this recompilling the kernel?

No.
To recompile the kernel, you're looking more along the lines of:
cd /usr/src/linux
make menuconfig
make
make modules_install

Quote:

Can you compile a program from source without recompiling the kernel source?

Yup. They're two different things.

mjjzf · 12-23-2004, 02:06 PM

Dark_Helmet, the posting you link to is actually a very good explanation.
I think there should be a link to it in Jeremy's instructions for compiling from source.

Garibaldi3489 · 12-23-2004, 05:29 PM

As mentioned up above this is how you install software from source. The reason you would want to install from source verses a package for your system like deb for debian or tgz for slackware is because the software you want to install may not always be offered in a package.

mjjzf · 12-24-2004, 07:29 AM

I mostly use the source tarballs because it is the only way to get the latest program versions. The distro packages always show up a bit later (installed Thunderbird with Ubuntu apt-get: Version 0.8. Grabbed the 1.0 tarball from the site instead).