trouble with tar files
 

I've downloaded some tar files (including adobe acrobat) and after I extract them, I get the error message "configure: error: no acceptable C compiler found in $PATH"

I'm new to this. The system otherwise works fine. any clues. thanks.

Go to you Add/Remove program in Fedora and select to add development tools (which should include things like 'make' and 'gcc'). These come included on the Fedora cd's.

An alternative is to use yum e.g.

Yet another alternative:
Open a terminal window, and enter the command: which gcc.
That should return something like: /usr/bin/gcc, the location of the gcc executable.
Then, enter this command in the term window: 'export PATH=$PATH:/usr/bin/gcc' (without quotes) to add gcc to your path.
The export command as given appends the path to gcc to the path you already have (given as $PATH).
Then, try installing the tarball again.

just add your gcc executable files to $PATH,
showd above.