compiling source code

[crazy_monkey108]

ok im kinda a noob and when i download a programs source code and want to compile it so i have the program i dont really know how to do it....wouldnt i have to find out what language its programmed in and then get that language and then copy the code into that and then compile the program? and if so how woul i go about getting those languages?

[angor]

Hmm... your question has a rather large scope, but I'll try
to present a few pointers.

I assume that you're runnig Knoppix from CD (not installed
on your harddisk) and I further assume that your version of
Knoppix already provides a lot of the tools you need.

Very many (most?) programs are written in a language
called "C". The source you download from somewhere is usually
archived in a so-called "tar-ball" and comes as a file with the
name "bestprogramever.tar.bz2" or "...tbz2" or "...tar.gz" or
"...tgz".

- bestprogramever: the name of the program
- tar: it's an archive, needs to be unpacked
- bz2, gz: it's compressed and needs to be uncompressed

Depending on the compression method used you simply go to
where you saved the file (this is command line stuff, so you open
a console and "cd /to/the/file") and enter
<code>
tar xjf bestprogramever.tar.bz2
</code>
or
<code>
tar xzf bestprogramever.tar.gz
</code>

That leaves you with a directory named bestprogramever and you
cd there.

Most C-programs consist of many smallish files that end in ".c" and
".h". To compile these in the correct sequence requires rather
intimate knowledge of the program, so there is a central file called
"Makefile" where all this knowledge is stored. You could edit this
file in order to tweak the program (say, you'd want output on the
screen be green instead of white), but today there usually is a
further file that governs the Makefile: "configure".

Look for an executeable file of that name; if it's there type
<code>
./configure --help
</code>

You might encounter a line (among many) that says
--with-colour=COLOUR

So again you invoke configure, this time as
<code>
./configure --with-colour=green
</code>

If that succeeds, type
<code>
make
</code>

You should now have an executeable file called "bestprogramever".
Start it with
<code>
./bestprogramever
</code>
and enjoy!

Pay attention to the "./"part in some of the above commands:
it means "right here, not somewhere else on the system" and is needed.

To install the program to its proper place you'd have to run
<code>
make install
</code>
but you need to be root for that and also it will not get you far as
long as you are running from CD.

There are many, *MANY* more aspects to this subject, so this
is just a very minimalist starter. Try a few things and feel free
to come back with more specific questions!

[WaKa]

Whoa - crazy monkey
check out which program it is here
(A lot huh) then report back.

BTW, you need to love the Terminal alot (Shell - Konsole) to compile.
Tip: C, C++, java, lisp, perl, javascript and maybe fortran should be noted.

[crazy_monkey108]

ok thank you ill fiddle around with that . oh and sorry for lack of detalis but im running knoppix 5.0.1 installed on a hard drive

[crazy_monkey108]

ok so i cd'd to my flash drive location (cuz i have the file on my flash drive) and then i entered in <code> tar xjf pingus-0.6.0-binary-linux-i386(2).tar.bz2 </code> and hit enter and it said "bash: syntax eror near unexpected token '(' so i got rid of the '(2)' part of the filename and then all it said was bash: syntax error near unexpected token 'newline'. and i know this is probably a noobies question but whats wiht the <code> </code> tags? looks a lot like html to me...

[RandomGoon]

Uh, not to sound harsh but the <code></code> tags were supposed to indicate "don't type this on the command line, just type what's contained within".

Most of the time people just use " information that's relevant " as the format but you get variations. Don't feel bad, it happens when you're new at things.

'Goon

[crazy_monkey108]

lol thanks...wow that was a really stupid question...haha

[crazy_monkey108]

lol thats awesome thanks. the game runs really slow but it runs and thats awesome thanks :P

[crazy_monkey108]

ive recently noticed that many times when i try to run a makefile or something it will say "permission denied" whats wrong wtih that? im not positive but im pretty sure the same thing happened when i tried to run the file as root

[crazy_monkey108]

ok now many times when i try to compile say a game i donwloaded or what have you i run ./configure and it works fine until the last line where it says
checking for X...configure: error: Can't find X includes. Please check your installation and add the corret paths!

what can i do to fix this?