Compiling Linux Packages
This article assumes you know how to download files and open a terminal. This works with any version of Linux.
Traditional Linux programs are installed by compiling them. Package management programs have made the entire process very easy, however many great programs can only be downloaded as source and compiled. The extensions for these downloads is .tar.gz or .tgz. These are files that have been first tied together with tar, and secondly been compressed with gzip.
To extract them you will first decompress (gunzip -x filename) and then untar them (tar -xzf filename). In the directory you are working in you will now have a folder that is reminiscent of the original filename.
#cd path/to/download/directory
#ls
gaim.tar.gz
#gunzip -x gaim.tar.gz
#ls
gaim.tar
#tar -xzf gaim.tar
#ls
gaim/ gaim.tar
#rm gaim.tar
#ls
gaim/
#cd gaim
Now we actually compile the program. Nine times out of ten all you have to do is run ./configure, make, make install in that order. Things can go wrong at any time though, dependencies might not be found, libraries might be the wrong version.
#ls
(lots of files including makefile and configure)
#./configure
(screen output telling you what's up, might ask questions)
#make
(the intense process of compiling happens. Cross your fingers)
#make install
(the compiled program is automatically put where it belongs)
#gaim
(runs our program, can be ran from any directory)
Gaim is a graphical program and if ran in a terminal will output program errors to the terminal (if they occur). If you ever have a graphical program that crashes a lot, run it from the terminal (verses double clicking an icon) and you may get some useful diagnostic information.
