Hi all,

I've compiled and debugged hundreds of programs over the years, but the last batch I undertook was way back in the early 1990s so it's all a bit of a blur after so long.

Today I downloaded a source tree for a small linux application in .tar.gz format. So I've extracted it into a suitable directory which I created under /opt as I gather this where one should install additional application software. Is that correct?

I then ran ./configure and it got a good way into most of the task before it stalled and spitted out a 'package missing' error and exited. This 'package' is a dependency for the main application and there are 4 others; some of which are already on my system and some of which aren't.

I downloaded this first missing dependency from Sourceforge and it turns out to be another source file in the same tar.gz format as the main application. At this point I thought I'd better run a couple of questions past the Panel:

Where should I install this dependency package on the system? I assume it's gotta go somewhere where the config script will be able to find it. Should it be installed AT ALL, or just saved where the config script can find it and extract the relevant parts itself?

I don't want to end up with required files scattered all over the system making cleaning up later more complicated, either. I'm rather untidy and disorganized by nature, so any good housekeeping tips as to where to correctly put all these files and directories would be most welcome!

Thanks, CC.

The "normal" locations are /opt/src/programname or /usr/local/src/programname. I tend towards being a fan of the later, but I've seen it done in /home/user/program directories and everywhere else. Just be consistent in your usage.

Fairly normal, if you're using a system with a package manager you should probably install the dependencies via the package manager so it keeps updating them unless you need a specific version that is further down the line from the release you're using. Otherwise you typically compile and install the package using a prefix of /usr/local or in some cases /usr, i suggest /usr/local and then adding the appropriate entries and paths to your config statements / ld library path (/etc/ld.so.conf or /etc/ld.conf.so/*.conf depending on distribution, don't forget to run ldconfig after updating them.)

You've hit on the key issue, be consistent. If you configure programs compiled from source to install to /usr/local always send them there... don't make an exception for one program to be in /usr or in /opt, etc.

The process for all programs is approximately the same, although if you know you're going to need a dependency it's a good idea to install it first.

make clean is your friend after updating libs too

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