I upgraded PHP on my server recently and had to recompile it several times because I kept forgetting to include some packages.

I always keep my source files in /src/[package-name] and so far, I have run "make clean" before running "./configure" every time. Is this necessary?

Also, let's say in a month, I want to add just one package and don't want to load it dynamically. What's the best way to do it? Can I just do a "./configure" using the same options I used before plus the new one, and then "make && make install" over the installed version?

I like how you save the source for all ur programs to /src. I'm gonna start doing that.

That is what /usr/local/src is for.

Evo2.

It depends on how well the build system is set up. I usually assume the worst and do a make clean. However for some software, even that is not enough and it's safest to start with a pristine tarball.

Again depends on how good the build system is. Try and see!

Evo2.

What's a good place to put all the READMEs, INSTALL notes and documentation?

I have a directory called ~/doc/mydoc/ which is full of notes that I've made over the years.

For sofware I usually make a directory in /usr/local/src for each software package, and then a separate subdirectory for each version. You could put all your notes that are specific to the installation of that piece of software in there too.

Anyway, shouldn't hijack this thread.

Cheers,

Evo2.

I have moved my sources to /usr/local/src as suggested. I didn't know about that directory.

Thanks for all the info, it's been really helpful!

One more question: I've noticed that config.log sometimes didn't log the configure options you used for your compile. Is this normal or should I always echo the config options to a file somewhere as a best practice?