This is simply a curious question.

i've done the ./configure command for quite a few programs now but I dont't really know what I'm looking at/analyzing. sometimes I'll see a ...no in there but it'll still compile and everything. what does the 'no' mean and why do we configure? is it for the dependencies?

thanks again.

This is part of the GNU build system. The idea is that the configure script is a very portable script which can run on many platforms. It checks that all the tools and libraries necessary for building a project are available and generates a Makefile which can then be used to build the project.

The configure script is automatically generated from a description of the project and what it needs to build successfully - see the tutorial about autoconf and automake below.

These project descriptions are written in a macro language to make writing them as quick and easy as possible. Unfortunately, every program is slightly different, so the standard macros tend to check for more than the program actually needs. This produces some of the harmless the "no" responses that you see.

In principle, it is possible to hand craft the autoconf/make files to produce a configure script that only tests what is necessary, but in practice that takes a great deal of effort, and would run the risk of making the script platform dependent. So most packagers don't bother.

See http://vindaci.members.sonic.net/cbr...ols/index.php3

HTH,
-nick

awesome, great explination. Thanks for taking the time.