Compiling software for use in a particular distro

Torner · 12-28-2007, 08:02 AM

I am looking for a step by step set of instructions on compiling some open source software for SimplyMEPIS 6.5 or possibly deb. I am hoping to find instruction that take me through every step with some explanation of what each step is for. It doesn't matter what software just something fairly simple to give me an idea of the process so I can try and adapt the process to bigger attempts. If anyone knows where I can find a tutorial like this please let me know.

PS It would be best for me if the process could be GUI controlled but I fear that is not yet possible.

kev000 · 12-28-2007, 03:25 PM

installing binary packages with a gui is a breeze. Try synaptic package manager (should be included with mepis).

compiling from source is another level of pancakes. But it can be simplified into 3 "easy" steps on the command line (from the source's directory):

1) ./configure
2) make
3) make install

1) configure will check for the compilers, libraries, and other dependencies that the source requires to be compiled. There are usually options that you can turn on while doing a configure ie ./configure --with-mysql (turns on mysql). You can find out what options you can enable with a ./configure --help. If it fails, that usually means you are missing a dependency: look at the error message, search synaptic for the *-dev package, and install it. If you can't find the package, google probably will help you determine where/what it is.

2)make - this compiles the source. Sometimes it will fail with errors because of a dependency that configure failed to detect (usually bad on the developers for that). Once again, look at the error message and search for the missing library in synaptic/google.

3)make install - this copies the newly compiled source to your system where it can be used by you. This is the only step that will require root privileges.

That should at least get you started. Here is a good podcast on various Linux topics for newbies: http://www.linuxreality.com/podcast/...g-from-source/

cosmic · 01-01-2008, 07:39 PM

Okay, I'll admit right away that I am as newb as they come to Linux so I may be completely wrong and freely encourage correction to my ignorance (I'm sure kev000 is more than willing and able to fulfill this). However, as I found out when trying to install nGhost from source, on occasion there may be further steps to take before running ./configure. I noticed in the source package I downloaded, there was no configure file present. There was an autogen.sh file though and after some searching, I discovered that this had to be run to create a configure file (the install instructions provided didn't seem to mention this). In my case, this meant installing the automake packages first. When this is completed, you will then get a configure file you can use and proceed as usual. (btw, I still haven't gotten nGhost to install so I may be wrong or missing something).

kev000 · 01-02-2008, 09:37 AM

you are correct. I forgot to mention that you need autoconf and friends. Didn't realize that you were trying to install nGhost

.

If you are running mepis you may want to try the nghost debian package at http://sf.net/projects/nghost.

Here is also a good reference on getting nGhost up: http://nextabyte.com/wiki/index.php?...t_Starters_Kit

(it even has info about compiling it)

good luck