how to 'make' a source code?

Adh Iman · 05-14-2009, 11:15 AM

i'm very new in linux, i use ubuntu 8.10 on my laptop
i gettin' frustated with this 'make' command, it doesn't do anythin when i try to compile a source code but a sort message.
is there's another parameters should be added after this command?

i'll very grateful if somebody willing to explain how to use this command properly..

regards,,

Nylex · 05-14-2009, 11:18 AM

Please give us more information. What exactly are you trying to compile and what error messages do you get?

hoodooman · 05-14-2009, 01:11 PM

Did you run ./configure before you ran the make command?

rylan76 · 05-15-2009, 06:08 AM

"make" refers to a step that is +- halfway in the process of compiling an application on linux.

You need to explain what you want to compile, since for some packages and different ways for the authors to set the package up for local compilation, the process can differ quite a bit.

Typically, compiling an application or package might require these steps (this can vary, though!):

Code:

1. Download the source package (can be name.tar.gz or name.tar.bz2, or even name.rar)
2. Extract it.
3. Run ./configure in its folder / directory
4. NOW you run "make"
5. Become superuser
6. Run "make install" (to install it)
7. Run "/sbin/ldconfig" to update your library list (this is often not needed, but I always do it for safety's sake)
8. Delete the installation directory and files for the package or application.

Note that often programs will require "libraries" to be present and compiled, they are packages just like anything else, but do not result in an executable / runnable program being produced. Rather they are there so OTHER programs or libraries can use them in turn. The steps for making / compiling them are usually exactly the same as those for compiling or making an executable / runnable program off a source code "tarball" or archive you have downloaded.

onebuck · 05-15-2009, 07:37 AM

Hi,

You need to provide more information as to what you are attempting to do. What are you re-compiling, compiling or updating?

Quote:

excerpt from 'man make';

make - GNU make utility to maintain groups of programs

The purpose of the make utility is to determine automatically which pieces of a large program need to be recompiled, and issue the commands to recompile them. The manual describes the GNU implementation of make, which was written by Richard Stallman and Roland McGrath. Our examples show C programs, since they are most common, but you can use make with any programming language whose compiler can be run with a shell command. In fact, make is not limited to programs. You can use it to describe any task where some files must be updated automatically from others whenever the others change.

To prepare to use make, you must write a file called the makefile that describes the relationships among files in your program, and the states the commands for updating each file. In a program, typically the executable file is updated from object files, which are in turn made by compiling source files.

Adh Iman · 05-24-2009, 10:54 AM

I'm Indonesian, i want to install an english-indonesian dictionary called 'qamiden-1.0'.
I did run './configure' but it seems there are no 'configure' file, here's the message after i run 'make' command:

Quote:

make: *** No rule to make target `/usr/share/qt4/mkspecs/default/qmake.conf', needed by `Makefile'. Stop.

how should i thread this problem?

thanks,

Nylex · 05-24-2009, 10:58 AM

I just downloaded the source code for this software. There's a README in there, did you read it? You need to run qmake before running make.