Hi,

When you install a programm, you need to run commands
make
make clean
make install
make check

I know what those are doing. Lately I have heard "make dep". What is this doing exactly? When should I run it?

and are there any other "make XXXX" versions?

Thanx

make dep is used after make xconfig when re-compiling the kernel not sure if this is the best way to compile kernel but I did
make xconfig
make dep
make modules
make modules_install
make bzImage
make install
lilo

not sure all these step have to be done. I'm using makedrake 9.2rc2 and it seems like when you do make install somethings have already been done. well I guess it's alot better than them not getting done at all.

It depends on what program you're trying to compile and install. You don't always need to (or have the option to) run "make clean" or "make check". Most use "make" to build everything, and "make install" to install everything; some also have a "make uninstall" to remove the installation. There aren't any set limitations on the different kind of make rules you can have; it all depends on what the software author has made available in the Makefile. Read 'man make' for more information on how make works.

"make dep" is a rule that some software authors use for building dependencies that are needed before running "make". But again, a lot of packages won't have, and don't need, "make dep". It's always a good idea to read the instructions for anything you're compiling, to find out what's appropriate and necessary for that software.

Thanx for the reply!

So I should run "make dep" before "make". Right?

Yes, 'make dep' will probably be run before 'make'. But again, be sure to look at the README for whatever you're compiling, since each program is different.