articles/tutorials

Installing packages from source in Gnu/Linux

articles/tutorials

Packages come
in two formats in Gnu/Linux

1.) rpm
packages.

2.) Source
packages.

In this
document we will be installing source packages.

Source
packages generally come in 2 compressed formats

xmms-1.2.10.tar.bz2
–compressed with bunzip(bzip)

xmms-1.2.10.tar.gz
–compressed with gunzip(gzip)

and others
also

1.)first of all
we need to extract these packages .

so copy the
packages in your Gnu/Linux partition. for example in /plugins directory.

go to that
directory and extract them as follows

[root@gaurav
root]# cd /plugins/

[root@gaurav
plugins]# tar xjf xmms-1.2.10.tar.bz2

[root@gaurav
plugins]#

OR

[root@gaurav
root]# cd /plugins/

[root@gaurav
plugins]# tar xvzf xmms-1.2.10.tar.gz

[root@gaurav
plugins]#

here we pass
the arguments

xjf –for
uncompressing packages of the type (.tar.bz2)

xvzf –for
uncompressing packages of the type (.tar.gz)

more on these
attributes can be found by

[root@gaurav
root]# man tar

if the
packages are in some another format then u can extract them also by

a.)copy the
package in your Gnu/Linux partition

b.)Right click
on the package

c.)choose
extract here

this method
surely takes some time more that the command line version but if you are having
any problems in extracting
with the command line then u may proceed in this manner

2.)after packages
have been extracted then u need to compile them and then install these.

you can go
through a file Readme or INSTALL

in all the
install readme files you will find the procedure for installing source packages

I am briefing
the procedure down here

a.) go to the
directory containing the extracted packages

[root@gaurav
root]# cd /plugins/xmms-1.2.10

[root@gaurav
xmms-1.2.10]#

b.) ‘./configure’
will check if the files necessary for installation are available or not

[root@gaurav xmms-1.2.10]#
./configure

c.)’ make’ will
compile the package

[root@gaurav
xmms-1.2.10]# make

d.)’make install’
will install the executable in ‘/usr/local/bin’ (generally)

after these
you can run your new packages by their name only or by giving the full path

[root@gaurav
xmms-1.2.10]# xmms

OR

[root@gaurav
xmms-1.2.10]# /usr/local/bin/xmms

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Spyware, Adware, Windows, GNU/Linux, and Software Culture .

articles/tutorials

This Article has been wrtten by Karsten M. Self and taken from here


Spyware, Adware, Windows, GNU/Linux, and Software Culture
.

For starters, I’ll note that I run GNU/Linux on my own personal
desktop, both at home
and at work, and that the problems delineated
in the article simply don’t exist for me there. While I strongly
favor Linux, I consider my bias grounded in experience and reality.
I’ve certainly had years of experience with both types of
systems.

I run herd over a small posse of legacy MS Windows systems at
work, a youth center in Napa, CA. I’m also called on periodically
to do maintenance on PCs used by adult staff in various businesses.
I have to say the the whole issue of spyware, adware, viruses,
worms, and other annoyances (generally: malware) really opened my
eyes to the problems MS Windows users face.

Among topics the article didn’t address for reasons of space and
focus:

  • Keeping things clean. I’ve found a few
    tricks that work, at least for the moment, with vigilance,
    paranoia, and a healthy dose of luck.
  • Experiences. Just how bad the problem is,
    with some quantified examples.
  • Some cultural observations.
  • Ironies.

There were also a few general observations I had on the spyware
/ adware / malware issue. Briefly (and there’s more at depth later
on most of these points):

  • Seeing both GNU/Linux and Windows systems running
    side-by-side, the magnitude of the problem is just unbelievably
    different. As in: nonexistent vs. a major constant concern.
  • It is possible to protect MS Windows systems against
    the problem. But it’s a lot of work, restricts a lot of the
    so-called useful functionality of the platform, and in my case
    involves no email, greatly limited downloads, rather effectively
    blocking use of MS Internet Explorer, and keeping virus and
    adware definition files up to date. I spend thirty minutes daily
    on this for ten systems and still don’t feel I’ve got things
    comfortably nailed down. For those interested in the “how”, I
    cover this in some detail below.
  • Typical small enterprise use of MS Windows is an absolute
    nightmare from an adware/spyware perspective, and (so far) you
    couldn’t pay me to go there. Home-usage is probably even
    worse.
  • Most telling is the difference I see between the applications
    space in my preferred GNU/Linux distribution (or version),
    Debian, and MS Windows. Boiling it down: in a collaborative, open
    platform, programs have to obey rules to be included. In a
    fiercely competitive environment, there’s ferocious levels of
    backstabbing and low tricks to try to get applications in front
    of the user or on their system. Adware and its ilk are a logical
    extension of the existing proprietary software marketplace.
    There’s considerably more on this below.

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