On Thu, 2006-04-06 at 21:22 -0500, Michael Hennebry wrote: > yum gcc > will probably get gcc, > but not necessarily one the OP needs > if he needs the mentioned cross-compiler > for a new-fangled microcontroller. > If they are there, he is going to > need to find the options that will > build a cross-compiler. > If they are not there, > he will have to compile from source. > Since he does not now have a compiler, > yum gcc > will still be necessary for > building the cross-compiler. > If he needs a cross-compiler > for a new-fangled machine, > he will need to do more than > just select options, > he will need to teach > gcc the instruction set of > the new-fangled machine. > Once he has built his new compiler, > he will probably need to compile a new > set of standard libraries to go with it. > > About ./configure and make: > > Performing ./configure and make as an > ordinary user is probably safe enough. Well, though it's safe in the sense of "It won't corrupt your system", this is likely to have other side-effects on this user. > It's doing the make install as root > that has the potential for trouble. > My first thought in this regard > is to determine whether one really > wants the software installed as > as system software. If not, > something like > make prefix=$HOME/verylocal install > will probably do the trick. Nope. Think along library search paths, include file search paths configuration file search paths and hard-coded directory/filenames. In most case you will want configure --prefix=$HOME/verylocal not make prefix=$HOME/verylocal because packages containing hard-codes directories/filenames/paths will encode them at configuration time. I.e. most packages having been configured with ./configure --prefix=/usr and installed with make prefix=$HOME will contain hard-coded references to /usr instead of $HOME. > One does not have to become root. > If one does want the software > installed as system software, > do some testing first. > Edit Makefile, > removing any .SILENT targets. > As an ordinary user, > make -n prefix=/opt 'CP=cp -i' install 2>&1 | tee makeno.out Same as above. This won't work in most cases. > Package management is most useful on system > software that is used by other system software. > On software on top of the food chain it's not as useful, > though it's not necessarily useless. I disagree. Ralf
