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The magic behind configure, make, make install - How it works in Unix (thoughtbot.com)
submitted 2 years ago by to c/linux@lemmy.ml
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[–] 6 points 2 years ago (2 children)

Hell maybe I do need to learn some shit, because I was under the impression that you cd into the folder after you untar it, then type ./configure make sudo make install, but the last two packages I attempted to install from source like this just did nothing.

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  • [–] 4 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    Maybe. But maybe they did nothing because there was no ./configure script and you had to use another tool, e. g. one of that I mentioned, so you need to learn another shit.

    BTW installing anything from source like this is the right way only in (B)LFS.

    But you definitely don't need to learn this if you are a developer and starting a new project in 2024. You can use cmake or write plain makefiles, even shell scripts if you want, but as you value life or your reason keep away from the autotools. It is a nightmare to debug thousands lines of scripts they generate and put into your source tree.

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  • [–] 1 point 2 years ago*

    You assume everyone has root.

    On a system I don't administer, I can compile and install software in my home directory (or shared directories that I have write access) by using:

    ./configure --PREFIX=/home/myuser/software/

    make # to compile

    make install #without sudo, to install to ~/software/bin

    So when you say "only in (B)LFS", you're overlooking a VERY common use case - especially in HPC and other systems NOT running on my desk/lap.

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