I use Linux Mint 12. When installing tarball packages everything goes fine until I try to configure. When I enter "./configure" I get this message: "bash: ./configure: No such file or directory" What am I doing wrong? This has happened with two different packages.

well you're either in the wrong place - you didn't cd into the directory after you untarred it, or you've got the wrong software. How a tarball installs is not necessarily standard in any way, there are no guarentees at all about how you'd get it on your system, unlike rpms / debs etc. it MIGHT would that way, it might not. Is there a genuine reason to use a tarball? If you can avoid it, you probably should.

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1. When you type ./configure, are you in the same directory as configure?
2. Do the packages actually have a configure file? Some software comes with a ready-made make file.

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The error "bash: ./configure: No such file or directory" means the script/file "configure" is not present in the current directory from where you are trying to execute it.

Have you downloaded a zipped/compressed package and unzipped it or extracted its files?

cd /path/to/your/directory/

Usually this should help:

Check whether the configure file is present or not:

If yes then run it as you did. Then you can run this command:

If the configure script is not present then read the "read me" type of file or some "guide or installation guide" that should be shipped with the package you have downloaded. Check what it says.

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Which tarballs ?

There are about 10 different ways to build software,
many with no configure script.

Also : There is no configure script in a binary package.

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Also : There is no configure script in a binary package.

Does this mean that a "binary package" is not a 'tar' package? You see 'packages' as individual things and you follow the standard procedure to install that but it fails. If it includes a README is that a binary file or not?

Fred

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with out more information other that Mint 12 and some UNKNOWN tarbal archive
and that the OP ran "./configure" SOMEPLACE UNKNOWN TO US

there is NO way we can even offer much help other than wild guesses
so badgee601
1) what is this unknown program?
2) Did you untar it ?
3) If you did then ,how and where did you extract it ?
4) is gcc and autotools installed on mint 12 ?

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There is normally a "readme" or "install" text file containing installation instructions in the directory that appears when you decompress a tarball.

It would help if you could link to the link from which you downloaded the file; then we could look at it.

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Maybe it would help to clarify WHAT a tarball is...

Essentially, a tarball is just like a zip file in Windows. It's just an archive that contains multiple files, it could contain ANYTHING. From data, to pictures, to songs, to binary files, to compilable source code.

Assuming you're talking about a tarball that contains code, once you extract the tarball, you need to look for a README or an INSTALL file that will give you instructions on how to compile and install the code contained within. Some of them use a configure script, some of them don't. There is no "standard" for building code contained within a tarball.

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First of all, thanks for taking the time to try and help me.

The program I've been trying to install is MusE, an open source MIDI/Audio sequencer. I followed the READ ME file's directions, creating a sub directory for the program, which I named "dls," where I extracted the files. Then I followed the directions under the "Configuration" heading:

Configuration:
--------------
There are a few different ways to configure (notice the two dots):

Type "cmake -i .." to run in step-by-step 'Wizard' mode.

Or type "cmake -L .." to see options, then compose "cmake <options>" yourself.
Some <options> are:

-DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=<type>
<type> can be blank (to reset a previous cached type to 'empty'),
debug, release, RelWithDebInfo and MinSizeRel.
Release is recommended, to get optimizations.
If no CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE is given at all, cmake uses either the previous
cached value, or else 'empty' (plain or default system optimizations).

-DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=<prefix>
The installation <prefix> where the program is installed.
The default is to install in /usr/local.

Or type "ccmake .." (if you have it - text-mode GUI). It may be blank so hit
'C' to first-time configure. Fiddle with yer options if ye so desire, then hit
'C' to configure then 'G' to generate and exit, or 'Q' to quit without
generating.

Or there is also a desktop GUI for cmake called cmake-gui.


After which I tried compiling the program:

Compiling:
----------
After configuration, while still in the build directory,type:
make


Then I tried to install:

Installing:
----------
After compiling, type:
make install (as root)
or
sudo make install

This is where I had to stop because I got a message:

make: *** No rule to make target 'install'. Stop.

What am I doing wrong?

i am guessing this
http://muse-sequencer.org/

now the plot thickens
" cmake "
Is it installed ?
cmake is a different tool than the standard autotools
but WHY not use the prebuilt binaries for debian/ubuntu


http://muse-sequencer.org/index.php/Download#DEB
but if you really want to build from source ....
i am guessing that you downloaded "muse-2.0rc2.tar.gz"
from http://sourceforge.net/projects/lmuse/files/muse-2.0/
minde you rc2 means RELEASE CANDIDATE 2 as in a TESTING version to work out bugs

this zip has a "CMakeLists.txt"
so it is a cmake project
you need to first make sure cmake is installed
if it is then enter the text based gui with ccmake

a word about cmake
IT HATES building in the source file
it dose NOT LIKE IT
in one folder up make a muse-build folder
cd into that in the terminal
then
BUT BEFORE you do ANY of that make 00% sure that EVERY dependency IS INSTALLED
-- building the source can be a pain in the "bleep" --
form the readme
install EVERYTHING

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The Ubuntu prerequisites for muse (2.0~rc2-1) are listed here
http://packages.ubuntu.com/source/precise/muse

Or you can do 1) sudo apt-get build-dep muse
2) sudo apt-get install libqt4-dev liblash-compat-dev


cd muse-2.0rc2/ && mkdir build && cd build/ && cmake ../ && make
→ → No errors.


Installing muse-1.1 : sudo apt-get install muse
... as said by John VV.

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