Installing software
 

hi

I have been struggling to debug the various problems that i face after installing and upgrading many libraries. So now i have reinstalled my Linux OS to Fedora Core 3. Could someone please suggest to me where to install my packages and and what are the post requirements for installing libraries.

For example if i want to upgrade my gtk version to gtk+-2.6.7. What are the steps i should follow


Thank You
Abhishek Samuel

The easiest way to install software in Fedora is to use a package manager like yum.

check this site out to install yum
http://www.fedorafaq.org/#installsoftware

hi

The yum feature i guess is for restricted packages that are available, but what if i want to install latest libraries of libgnomeprint, glade, pango, gtk etc etc..

Thanks

Abhishek Samuel

i guess, you have to find a yum repository which contains the latest versions of software on the web(maybe google, you might or not find one).

you could try it out

as you could see from http://www.fedorafaq.org/samples/yum.conf
that it connects to alot of repositories

The other option is to compile from source. If there are conflicts, you will still have to resolve them before the "./configure" phase will complete. The libraries will be installed where they belong during the "make install" part. The software will be installed under the /usr hierarchy, however some people prefer using the /usr/local hierarchy instead. Reading the README and INSTALL files will give you the details, plus options you might want to include.

I'd recommend when upgrading libraries putting them back where they came from, usually with libraries this is /usr ( but not always). also, since you are going to be using an rpm distro, make sure you install everything development related during the install you can, this will avoid headaches later on.

It's a good idea to make packages of your builds and install the package instead of "make install", this will make upgrading/removal of packages much easier and it will update the rpm database ( which will help avoid "rpm dependency hell", which is a side effect of people incorrectly using rpm. do a google for checkinstall and rpmbuild for details on this ( checkinstall and rpmbuild are two methods of creating rpm's, both have pro's and con's so check them both out).

Don't try and upgrade these libraries, instead wait until Fedora Core 4 is out (should be June) which will include the latest versions of all these libs.

What app are you trying to install?

hi

I think using rpm's or yum install are great ways of installing applications. The problem is that there are some libraries(particular version) whose rpm you might not be able to find. So you have to install from .tar.gz files.

Now usually while installing this way the application installs by default in /usr/local if im correct, and somwhere i read to install it into the /usr directory by doing ./configure --prefix==/usr . Now is this correct or not. And after installing what all environment variables are we suppose to set.

Thanks
Abhishek Samuel

By definition if they're causing you this much trouble, they aren't a good way to install software.

What program is demanding such new libraries? It may be possible to fix it so it works on older systems.

hey

Well actually all ive had tons of problems ever since i installed gtk2.6.7. This is what i did
./configure --prefix=/usr
make
make check
make install

After i reboot my comp it couldnt load my login screen, my GUI changed in a drastic way(worse) and a lot of error kept getting generated on the console.
I think waiting for fedora core 4 would be the most ideal choice.

Thanks
Abhishek Samuel

Sometimes you are better of waiting for the vendors version of libraries or other packages because they can patch them just in case there are any problems. I have noticed that Fedora Core 3 is updates stuff like gtk2, glib etc, a few weeks after an official release, so use up2date or yum to keep your system current.