this is fairly long so get comfy!

ok i am completely new to this. i have been using windows my entire life and i decided to try something new. i am no computer genius, but i am not stupid either. i have built computers, reformatted, partition hdds, done fresh installs, been on the phone with india a million times, built stuff for others etc.

so i got fedora core 4 got it installed dual boot system with WinBlowsXP where linux boots first, had no clue what i was doing really cause i knew nothing about linux until after i burned cd from cd images i downloaded off the web and started creating partion and file management systems i had never heard of..

got it all set up the way i like it great

installed realplayer by following the directions on the website (it crashed foxfire and i did something funky to get both working at the same time. i really dont know what it was but it seemed like the right thing at the time and obviously it worked. i have been using linux for a little over 48 hours now (i am using it now YAY!), that's how long i have been awake as well so dont mind my typing.

ok so my problem is i cant install anything else in the world on this thing. i am frustrated cause i am following directions and not getting any results.

ok using the terminal (ne to me, but not a hard concept to grasp, i have used dos) i get a application program whatever. and i look at the install file that it come with. (generic) say to 'cd' the file, then configure it no problems here it is when i use the command for "make" that i get a problem. NOTHING HAPPENS i get an error wait let me go make it...


as you will be able to see from this i have tried every possible way to make it work

[chris@localhost ~]$ cd /home/chris/dls/nesgui-0.1.4
[chris@localhost nesgui-0.1.4]$ ./configure
loading cache ./config.cache
checking for a BSD compatible install... /usr/bin/install -c
checking whether build environment is sane... yes
checking whether make sets ${MAKE}... yes
checking for working aclocal... missing
checking for working autoconf... missing
checking for working automake... missing
checking for working autoheader... missing
checking for working makeinfo... missing
checking for gcc... gcc
checking whether the C compiler (gcc ) works... yes
checking whether the C compiler (gcc ) is a cross-compiler... no
checking whether we are using GNU C... yes
checking whether gcc accepts -g... yes
checking for /usr/local/include/netclass.h... no
configure: error: cannot find netclass.h header file.
[chris@localhost nesgui-0.1.4]$ make /home/chris/dls/nesgui-0.1.4
make: Nothing to be done for `/home/chris/dls/nesgui-0.1.4'.
[chris@localhost nesgui-0.1.4]$ {make} /home/chris/dls/nesgui-0.1.4
bash: {make}: command not found
[chris@localhost nesgui-0.1.4]$ make
make: *** No targets specified and no makefile found. Stop.
[chris@localhost nesgui-0.1.4]$ make /home/chris/dls/nesgui-0.1.4
make: Nothing to be done for `/home/chris/dls/nesgui-0.1.4'.
[chris@localhost nesgui-0.1.4]$ su
Password:
[root@localhost nesgui-0.1.4]# make install /home/chris/dls/nesgui-0.1.4
make: *** No rule to make target `install'. Stop.

i have tried it withou file paths with backwards inside out i get the same error
now not just with this file but with every friggin thing i download. i cant get half way through and "ooops ... NOTHING oh just kidding"

help! tell me there is one little thing i am doing wrong that will make my day.
i dotn want to go out to buy a $50 linux bible to make me feel completely retarted for something simple.
thanks foe being patient through this. i really havent slept since i decided to do this.

Isn't this package in your distro's package manager? Then you can install it easier by running a simple command. I have no experience with FC4 so I can't help you much more than that you'll have an easier time if you use rpms. It even could be there's an install software program in your menus.

Many programs come as RPMs on the installation CDs/DVD. They are in the directory /Fedora/RPMS/ on every disk. Use this command to install them: rpm -Uvh some-package-1.0-1.i386.rpm. You can get updated packages from the Fedora website (or its mirrors) and more software from various other repositories. You'll run into dependency errors when installing RPMs. You'll have to install all the packages that a particular package depends on. To avoid this, use yum which is installed by default.

And, as darkleaf suggested, you can use the graphical package management tool (in KDE: System Settings / Add/Remove Application) although it is buggy and somewhat limited.

If you want to compile programs yourself, pay attention to the requirements listed on the program's webpage and documentation. UNIX is modular; each piece of software usually needs other programs and libraries to work.

To get help on the command line, read the manpages, e.g. man yum. There are plenty of Linux newbie guides on the Web, you don't need a > 1000 page bible - Google is usually enough. Don't forget to search this site! Thousands of people have run into the same problems as you and many of them have even got help. Many times using the error message as the search phrase gives the most relevant results.

Regards
Simon

And may I still add one thing; what helped me to get started on Linux was a guide book from my local public library. No $50 (or anything for that matter) spent there.

Well if you look on the home page for NEsGUI you'll find a heading "requirements", one of them is netclass and from the errors, it looks like you haven't compiled and installed it, go and do that first, then try NEsGUI again

But first, get some sleep. The computer will still be there tomorrow, but there are limits to what you can effectively do in one sitting without simply making things far worse.