Building software from source

[Matthias Bauw]

Hi there,

I have been using Linux for quite some time now and I have installed my own 
webserver for testing purposes.

I have some question about building software though? How can I update 
software that I have built from source? 
Do I just download new source and build the new version? Will the old one 
disappear then?

And what if you want to add configuration options afterwards? For example, 
have have built PHP from source without
GD, and now I would like to use it. What do I do?

Matt.

[Alexander Dalloz]

Am Mo, den 12.09.2005 schrieb Matthias Bauw um 16:23:

No HTML formatted mails to this list please.
> I have some question about building software though? How can I update
> software that I have built from source? 
> Do I just download new source and build the new version? Will the old
> one disappear then?

If you install the new version over the old one, the old version will be
overridden. If you compile yourself you have to care for target
locations yourself. Maybe the old source support a "make uninstall"
procedure.
> And what if you want to add configuration options afterwards? For
> example, have have built PHP from source without
> GD, and now I would like to use it. What do I do?

You need to completely recompile PHP.
> Matt.

If you ask me: use Fedora RPMs (Core, Extras, livna, etc.) wherever you
can and avoid compiling yourself. What do you gain by compiling PHP
yourself?

Alexander

[Kenneth Porter]

--On Monday, September 12, 2005 5:18 PM +0200 Alexander Dalloz 
 wrote:
> If you ask me: use Fedora RPMs (Core, Extras, livna, etc.) wherever you
> can and avoid compiling yourself. What do you gain by compiling PHP
> yourself?

In most cases the RPM's are built with reasonable settings, but sometimes 
one wants something non-standard. In that case, download the source RPM, 
which contains the original sources used to create the binary RPM, tweak it 
to your desired settings, and rebuild. http://www.rpm.org/ for more info.

[Alexander Dalloz]

Am Mo, den 12.09.2005 schrieb Kenneth Porter um 18:58:
> --On Monday, September 12, 2005 5:18 PM +0200 Alexander Dalloz 
>  wrote:
> > If you ask me: use Fedora RPMs (Core, Extras, livna, etc.) wherever you
> > can and avoid compiling yourself. What do you gain by compiling PHP
> > yourself?
>
> In most cases the RPM's are built with reasonable settings, but sometimes 
> one wants something non-standard. In that case, download the source RPM, 
> which contains the original sources used to create the binary RPM, tweak it 
> to your desired settings, and rebuild. http://www.rpm.org/ for more info.

I can subscribe that. Speaking about PHP for instance I rebuild the RPMs
my own on some systems for getting php-mcrypt. Though there is an
important difference in exchanging distribution software by self
compiled stuff from sources to rebuilding RPMs with modifications
because of custom needs (rpm managed software vs. software spread in the
system without a managing software like rpm).

Alexander

[Strong]

On Mon, 2005-09-12 at 09:58 -0700, Kenneth Porter wrote:
> > If you ask me: use Fedora RPMs (Core, Extras, livna, etc.) wherever
>
> you
> > can and avoid compiling yourself. What do you gain by compiling PHP
> > yourself?

OPTIMIZATION! :)