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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).

Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.

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The magic behind configure, make, make install - How it works in Unix (thoughtbot.com)

submitted 9 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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[–] [email protected] 4 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Maybe. But maybe they did nothing because there was no ./configure script and you had to use another tool, e. g. one of that I mentioned, so you need to learn another shit.

BTW installing anything from source like this is the right way only in (B)LFS.

But you definitely don't need to learn this if you are a developer and starting a new project in 2024. You can use cmake or write plain makefiles, even shell scripts if you want, but as you value life or your reason keep away from the autotools. It is a nightmare to debug thousands lines of scripts they generate and put into your source tree.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

You assume everyone has root.

On a system I don't administer, I can compile and install software in my home directory (or shared directories that I have write access) by using:

./configure --PREFIX=/home/myuser/software/

make # to compile

make install #without sudo, to install to ~/software/bin

So when you say "only in (B)LFS", you're overlooking a VERY common use case - especially in HPC and other systems NOT running on my desk/lap.