I am very new to Linux, and I have a problem. I am trying to install VLC with the tar.bz

And this is where I run into trouble:

Twaize@linux:~/vlc-0.8.2> ./configure
checking build system type... i686-pc-linux-gnu
checking host system type... i686-pc-linux-gnu
checking target system type... i686-pc-linux-gnu
checking for a BSD-compatible install... /usr/bin/install -c
checking whether build environment is sane... yes
checking for gawk... gawk
checking whether make sets $(MAKE)... yes
checking for gcc... no
checking for cc... no
checking for cc... no
checking for cl... no
configure: error: no acceptable C compiler found in $PATH
See `config.log' for more details.


None of this means anything to me. But what I have done is extract the tar.bz2 and try to run ./configure in the folder it is in. Now what do I need and what am I doing wrong, and what am I supposed to do?

This happened recently with another distribution in that the compiler (gcc) was not installed. You need to fire up Yast then call up the install software icon then in the search box (using my memory of what I see) type gcc and there should be some evidence of whether it was installed or not. There also may be lib files that need to installed.

Another test can be in a console window: type at the prompt > gcc --version
If no response then you don't have gcc installed yet.

If you are a newbie do you have any background in UNIX or even DOS?

Did you install from a book DVD or CD or your burned one?

How much prep work did you do before installing Suse 10?

1-Nov-05
Eric Earl

Twaize@linux:~> gcc --version
bash: gcc: command not found

I have no background in Unix or DOS. Only windows.
Prep work for Suse 10? What do you mean?
gcc was not installed, but im doing so now.
It's installed and now I get:

<insert a lot of stuff>
checking mad.h usability... no
checking mad.h presence... no
checking for mad.h... no
configure: error: Could not find libmad on your system: you may get it from http://www.underbit.com/products/mad/. Alternatively you can use --disable-mad to disable the mad plugin.

So i did it with disable-mad (I know mad is rather important), so instead I get:
configure: error: Missing header file ffmpeg/avcodec.h.

Not sure what the state of your system is but I would also install the kernel source as it contains many header files used by gcc and also the devel files which might be why configure can't find the header files. (.h) Yast should allow the installation of all these. Look for devel and the headers for mad will likely show up. The kernel source you should find in /usr/src/linux if already installed and the header (.h) and lib files (think dll) should be in /usr/include and /usr/lib respectively. There are exceptions as /opt/kde and /opt/gnome are also used in Suse making a more complicated system.

I have Linux on my home machine where I am not at this moment and am trying to write you from memory of past experience.

Suse is set up to normally install from rpms rather than source. rpms are built binaries as you would expect in Windows whereas source is the UNIX way to accomodate the many different CPUs that could be intel but likely not.

Think of Linux as the OS with x-ray eyes that can see through walls to allow you to see everything though overwhelming. Windows hides the pipes and wires of your house so that you only see what is pretty and if you need to fix something you hire the pro. With Linux you are the pro though at present an apprentice but you will learn.

Eric

Did that, but it didn't work. I installed xine instead.

Are you saying that you don't have the compiler installed?

How comprehensive is xine for your needs?

I am having second thoughts about SUSE. I am finding that they purposefully leave packages out of their distribution that might lead to copyright infringement. A bit paranoid. They don't have mplayer as one of their packages for this very reason. Even with xine you will find that you can't play certain formats such as mov, asf and wmv as these originate with Apple and Microsoft (correct me if I am wrong). Mplayer up to now plays them all but you have to build from source and manually install the codecs into /usr/lib/codecs before anything works. Even the dvd encryption package has to be installed by hand because Suse does not include it. Suse didn't even allow the devel packages for gtk2 in order for me to build the gui interface for mplayer and any attempt to do so from rpm results in dependency incompatibilities. It would be nice to know what their policy is and which software they do not install.

I think I can play wmv, but im not sure about mov. Asf is a no go. I would like these formats to be playable, but im all new to Linux and it's really hard for me to do this. It's not the biggest problem in the world but it would be very convenient for me, if I could use it.

One of the other parts of this forum had a link to supply you with what is missing in Suse 10.0 (OpenSuse). I tried it myself last night as I have only been running 10.0 this last 5 days and did notice missing bits. Mplayer and its 129 codecs was one of the missing bits. Check this out:
http://www.thejemreport.com/mambo/content/view/178/42/

mplayer will play wmv, asf, ra, mov, .... I am trying to think of what it doesn't play when fully installed. I'm not sure if it plays streams but there might be a setting to play with. Very comprehensive.
Eric