Page 142 - DCAP602_NETWORK_OPERATING_SYSTEMS_I

Network Operating Systems-I

notes
figure 7.2: gnorpm

7.3.2 compiling software

In Windows, installing software is a matter of clicks. In Linux, Depending on the distribution you
have, software can be downloaded in the form of either RPM or Deb packages. Again, you can
compile software directly from source code—download the source code which comes in a tarball,
unzip it and then compile it.
In fact, this is the way source packages were distributed in the old days, and you might still have
to go by this route in some cases. However, to most people out there, compiling from source still
feels like voodoo.

unpacking

Command to use: [tar xvzf mypackage.tar.gz] or [tar xvjf mypackage.tar.bz2]
This is the first thing to be done when you download the software. All the source files, associated
libraries and documentation are distributed as compressed archives called tarballs. They are
compressed using either gzip or bzip2, and hence the different extensions and the slightly
differing switches used in the command.

After unpacking, a directory will be created with the name of the package in the destination
folder. Change the directory using cd mypackage and then use ls to explore the directory tree.
Make sure to read the readme, install and other documentation.
!
Caution Some packages might need some additional libraries or might suffer from
dependency issues, so it makes sense to know what’s needed.

136 LoveLy professionaL university