I am new to unix so please forgive ignorance. I am running openbsd-2.9 and need some help. All the software I run was added via the package system openbsd has. There have been times when I need an app. But it was not in the openbsd ports and or packages system. I usually just wait for it to show up in the packages or give up. It’s coming to the point that I need several apps. , That are not in the openbsd ports / packages system, that I can’t wait for and they may never be added. It’s about time that I learn how to compile my own applications from source. I have searched for days on information about this but have come up with nothing specific or remotely useful. Please somebody help me learn how to compile software from source. Please give specific steps and details as I am trying to learn without a clue. This unix world is so confusing but it is a challenge and I am not willing to give up yet. If one of you guys don’t mind please tell me what to do for this application as it is the one that has finally pushed me over the edge.

I need the app. Called demarc. www.demarc.org

It has the source available for download and says it works with openbsd. It even has a install doc. But does not show how to compile the demark app.

Thanks guys / ladies for any help and I apologize up front for asking such elementary information. If you folks have any good links or books that may help me learn please email them to me. I mainly run openbsd but I am getting a sun sparc with solaris soon.

So, you wanna compile a program...

Well, demarc tells you how:

http://www.demarc.org/documentation/

This little puppy had an area on building the binaries, basically that is speak for compiling the source to get the binaries...

In all, mos tof the software you can download will have some sort of doc in the tar file, usually a README and an INSTALL doc right in the dir it creates.
Read through those, and most s/w will have a Configure script that they'll have you run, and this will setup the Makefile for your particular system. The Makefile is what the make utility uses to direct itself through compiling the files for the program. The Makefile defines in what order and whether or not source files are compiled and with which compiler switches.

It is actually MUCH easier than it sounds, you download the tar, untar it, read the docs, run the configure script (if there is one), and then run (usually in this order, read the doc):

make
make test
make install

And that should do you right...




Later,


loadc