http://brainstorm.ubuntu.com/item/7165/ I know it's very easy, but typing "./configure", "make install" is terrible for new linux users.

I suggest to make simple, easy install wizard, that automatically extracts and compiles source from tar.gz and (of course) shows needed questions. It could be launched fe. by clikcking right a tar.gz file and chhosing "Easy install wizard".


[116 votes] Solution #1: Auto-generated solution of idea #7165


]]> en-us Thu, 17 Apr 2008 11:56:43 +0000 Sun, 01 Jun 2008 19:08:09 +0000 QAPoll module http://brainstorm.ubuntu.com/idea/7165/ The problem is, the command make && make install is the installation command for most but not for all of these packages
But for the general idea: +1]]> Thu, 17 Apr 2008 12:09:43 +0000 Thu, 17 Apr 2008 12:36:45 +0000 Thu, 17 Apr 2008 12:45:53 +0000
However, it does not and cannot exist. "./configure; make; make install" often is precisely what you need to do, but far from always. You could implement it for that common case, but I think you would be doing the user a disservice.


Voted no.]]> Thu, 17 Apr 2008 13:38:52 +0000
If developers are wanting convenient/easy installation for their users, they have deb packages.]]> Thu, 17 Apr 2008 14:50:27 +0000
Newbies should be using .deb files, seriously. tar.gz packages are usually too new versions of software that is otherwise too stable, or are software that's not tested on ubuntu, etc. newbies should stay away of those things.]]> Thu, 17 Apr 2008 17:03:40 +0000 Thu, 17 Apr 2008 18:21:07 +0000 Thu, 17 Apr 2008 21:29:19 +0000
Not a wizard though, wizards suck. Something like Gdebi would be nice. MUST use something like checkinstall to make debs though. No filesystem cluttering.]]> Thu, 17 Apr 2008 22:10:55 +0000
For "newbies", they should probably stick to installing .deb's. I think a prerequisite for compiling from source is to really *know* what it means to compile from source.

A better idea is to increase the number of packages in the Ubuntu repositories, and work on keeping them up-to-date, so users don't need to compile from source.]]> Thu, 17 Apr 2008 23:54:59 +0000 Fri, 18 Apr 2008 17:20:30 +0000
Having been a Slacker for most of my Linux career, I can guarantee that there are far too many source packages out there that will not install correctly or worse, will corrupt your system because they're poorly designed.

While I did write a script for myself to simplify compilation and creation of Slackware .tgz packages, I never, NEVER, automated the installation.

If this were to be implemented, I predict a host of Trojan Horse tar.gz files to install malware/spyware, or to perform "rm -rf /".

Besides, these novices would first have to install all the -dev packages for this "wizard" to work.]]> Sat, 19 Apr 2008 03:31:57 +0000
It makes it easy for developers to make compiling (as well as anything else on a file that isn't packaged with deb or RPM) easy for users. ]]> Wed, 21 May 2008 16:41:21 +0000 Sun, 01 Jun 2008 19:08:09 +0000