Normally, installing a new application is no more difficult than double-clicking an installer and hitting Next a few times. For those very rare occasions when an app’s source code is all that’s available, Wired details how to compile it yourself. More »
When you run across good-looking open source software which isn’t available as an executable, installable file, it’s time to get down and dirty with the source code at the command line. Tech tutorial site Webmonkey describes how to compile software from source. The process involves three main steps—the basic commands in order are configure, make, and make install. You can get tripped up if your system doesn’t have a compiler, or the software has dependencies that aren’t available, but those issues are easily resolved—and there’s no better feeling when you’re starting to get comfortable at the command line than the first time you successfully compile software from source. This howto’s a great place to start. Compile Software From Source Code [Webmonkey]
Few things can be as frustrating to non-expert Linux users as seeing the phrase “… or compile from source packages” on the download page of that killer app to try out (and we know that’s often the case for you patient non-Ubuntu users out there). If you’re looking for a nuts-and-bolts guide to installing software from those strange-looking Whatever.tar.gz files, Tuxfiles.org has a pretty good one. While the link takes you through the unpacking, compiling, installing, and cleaning up, there’s a basic command line method for almost any package (replacing “package” with the appropriate downloaded file name):
