Install from source.. directories
 

Hi,
just a quick one. After installing from source you end up with a directory of the package you just installed. (I build my in /usr/local/packagename). It contains the makefiles, configs, scripts, READMEs, sometimes other binaries, etc. If the 'make install' puts the binaries in /bin /sbin, man pages in the MAN_PATH, config files in /etc and /home can I get rid of the install directory? Or do the binaries ever need to refer to any fiels in that package directory? These can start to take up alot of room after a while.

Cheers, BashTin

Yes you can delete the directory. However, it may be wise to stick the tarballs you extracted the source from somewhere since most decent applications contains an "make uninstall" target in the Makefile so you can easily remove the program.

hw

If you install from source, the program will compile in it's installation directory first (you can do this step as normal user ;))

the "make install" copies to files to the right tree, like /usr, or /usr/local/ ...but never /home though :p You could however, install an appliation in your home folder, with something like "./confgure --prefix=/home/me/local", and don't become root to install ;)


If you install from source, I'd recommend downloading a tool called "checkinstall". This tool is capable of monitoring your "make install", and create a nice package for you. :)

Thanks for the feedback guys, BashTin.