Installing Programs on Mandrake

[Beelzebub]

OK, I am having a hard time figuring out how to install programs the correct way rather than just running them from the decompressed tar directory under my home directory. How the heck do you install programs correctly?!

When installing RPM files, it is a snap. I want to run Seti@home, but it just doesnt seem like I am doing this right. I decompress the tarball that I download from Seti's site, but now what? I can type ./setiathome -verbose from it's directory to run it, but isn't there an easier way to do this? This isn't just for Seti, I want to know how to install tarball programs. HELP!

 

[XWRed1]

Why could be easier than going into the seti directory and running seti? having the machine skip some steps and read your mind?

If you download a source tarball, then after you extracted it, then you'd usually do a "./configure && make && make install" as root to configure, compile, and install the app.

 

[Beelzebub]

Somehow only your sarcastic replies are funny, even if they do make me feel like an idiot.

The steps...

./configure
make
make install

was what I was searching for, but it doesn't work with the seti client. What exactly do those steps do?

 

[XWRed1]

Those steps compile it and install it on the system. The seti client doesn't need to be compiled, so they just put it into a tarball the same way they might put it into a zip on windows, and you just drop it whereever you want.