The "installation" of software under Linux is at times interesting but my also be confusing, but one thing is guarantied..... programmes installed
under Linux are generally faster, smaller & more stable than their "Windoze" counterparts. The "installation" process itself is
known as compiling, providing of course that you have the source code, which means that the programme is actually assembled on your computer to
suit your computers hard & software needs. The difference with the "Windows" approach is that a "Windows" programme is a "one programme
fits all computers" piece of software & a lot of unnecessary stuff is copied onto your HDD to make sure it'll work on your box.
Linux is a lot more clever in the way it does things (but you knew that by now huh :o) it will usually check through your system & figure out what you
need, what you already have, & if all goes well it will build the binary (.exe file) & a couple of other files (maybe a config file, a
help file..), save them into the correct directories, & then you can throw the source code away! You may have downloaded a 2MB
source code tarball, but the actual files that are "installed" on your box may only be 100-200kB little. A really nice example
of this is the 2.4.0 Kernel source code,
which is a 25MB tarball, unpacked it's over 100MB, & compiled & configured it's only 500kB or so :o)
With every source code package that you have there will be a README file telling you what steps you must take to get the
programme installed, you must follow this information step-by-step! Each programme follows a few basic steps, checking the system, building
the binaries, installing the binaries, & cleaning up the system. There are variations to this but the exact instructions are ALWAYS available.
There is another way of installing software if you use a Suse or Redhat Linux distribution. Many programmes come in the form of
a "rpm packet". A packet is the common name for a "programme" under Linux, & "rpm" means Redhat Packet Manager. This is basically a
file that is already pre-compiled & configured for a Suse or Redhat system & can be easily installed by using the command line
(see man rpm)
or by using the yast setup tool.
