Hi..
I'm having this problem ever since i switched to Linux. Im using Mandrake 9.1 and each time I try to install a program from the source , it would'nt let me. This is what i got after ./configure..

creating cache ./config.cache
checking host system type... i686-pc-linux-gnuoldld
checking for a BSD compatible install... /usr/bin/install -c
checking whether build environment is sane... yes
checking whether make sets ${MAKE}... yes
checking for working aclocal... missing
checking for working autoconf... missing
checking for working automake... missing
checking for working autoheader... missing
checking for working makeinfo... found
checking for prefix by checking for xmms... /usr/bin/xmms
checking for gcc... no
checking for cc... no
configure: error: no acceptable cc found in $PATH

After I tried to type 'make'
make: *** No targets specified and no makefile found. Stop.

How can I install a program from tarball properly? Most people said its pretty simple, just type ./configure, make, makeinstall. but it doesnt seem to work

You don't have any of the development tools installed. Do a search on this site for GCC you'll see what I mean.

You can either go into the Mandrake Control Center, to the Software Section, and choose "Install Software" then in the search box type:
gcc
And install everything that comes up, and all the dependencies OR
fire up a terminal as root and type:
urpmi gcc
And install it all that way.

Once you are all done, you should be able to compile applications.

Cool

Oh .. thanks for your help.. I'll try it out!