16.1 Software Build Systems

Many programming environments exist on Linux, from traditional C to interpreted scripting languages such as Python. Each typically has at least one distinct system for building and installing packages in addition to the tools that a Linux distribution provides.

We’re going to look at compiling and installing C source code in this chapter with only one of these build systems—the configuration scripts generated from the GNU autotools suite. This system is generally considered stable, and many of the basic Linux utilities use it. Because it’s based on existing tools such as make, after you see it in action, you’ll be able to transfer your knowledge to other build systems.

Installing a package from C source code usually involves the following steps:

1. Unpack the source code archive.
2. Configure the package.
3. Run make or another build command to build the programs.
4. Run make install or a distribution-specific install command to install the package.

note

You should understand the basics in Chapter 15 before proceeding with this chapter.