Installing Programs Manually
Hopefully, I have debunked any myth that Linux programs have to be compiled from source before they are usable. However, in this section, I want to show you how to install programs manually in case they are not in Synaptic or if you ever just want to. I am going to be demonstrating how to take an already compiled binary and install it to our system manually (this is what Synaptic does for you).
Before doing anything, we first need to install some tools on our system, such as a C compiler. Without these tools, we will not be able to manually install our own programs. In a terminal window enter this:
sudo apt-get install build-essential
After these packages are installed, we are ready to get started.
The program I am going to use to show a manual install of a precompiled binary is called Furthur. If you have not heard of it, it is a Java based file sharing program which allows you to share and download live music shows. The steps are simple:
- Download Furthur (at the time of this writing, Furthur175.tar is the download file)
- Go to a terminal and change to the directory of the download:
cd ~/Desktop
- Extract the tarball file:
tar -xvvf Furthur175.tar
- A new directory is created, change to it:
cd FurthurNET_1.7.5
- Install it:
sudo make install
- Furthur is now installed, run it by entering:
furthur
You can also make a shortcut in your applications menu
This installs the program with the included makefile (instructions on how your system should handle the install). Most precompiled programs will include a makefile, so all you have to do is follow the above steps to install. If what you download does not include a makefile, you will need to check the appropriate documentation for dependencies and install them first and then follow any installation instructions included (hint, check the Ubuntu Forums). If you are looking for more information about compiling programs, here is an excellent resource on the Ubuntu Wiki.
Why would you ever want to do this when you have Synaptic? It’s simple, if you like to stay on the very latest version of any program, usually apt (Synaptic) does not offer bleeding edge versions, so you would need to do a manual download and install. Keep in mind if you do this, Synaptic will not automatically monitor the packages for updates, so you will need to periodically check the respective site for the latest and greatest.
Other Stuff
In this section I am going to do something different. Instead of showing you how to do a few things, I am going to point you to some Ubuntu resources which show you how to do the topics covered in this section.
File Sharing
For those of you want to share files to your other machines, here is a great resource setting for Samba on the Ubuntu Wiki which walks you through the process and explains the configuration quite well.
Setting Up A PDF Printer
Here is a great walk through for creating PDF’s from any application which can print.
Getting Help
Now that you can see the direction this section is taking, I just want to remind you of the resources available to get your Ubuntu / Linux questions answered.
- Ubuntu Forums
- Ubuntu Wiki
- Linux Questions – for questions about Linux in general
- Google – always your friend
Concluding the “Trilogy”
This will do it for my Ubuntu guides. Thanks to the respective websites for providing the screenshots used in this guide. I sincerely hope you did find my humble articles useful and it made your switch or trial a bit easier. As always, if you have any comments, please email them to articles[at]132solutions.com. I have thoroughly enjoyed writing this articles and I hope you have enjoyed reading them.
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