Re: ubuntu package

[James E. Bailey]

Am 19.08.2008 um 07:51 schrieb David Stocker:
> How do I go about removing 2.10.33 (if that's even necessary) before  
> installing the latest development version. Path$ and Directorie$ are  
> new to me because ever since I have  used a computer, I have never  
> had to deal with such weighty decisions (BTW, if anyone knows of an  
> online "self-help" or "twelve-step prgram"-type resource to help  
> recovering Windows users learn how to install programs in GNU/Linux,  
> please pass them along--I'm not really 'lazy,' I just want to avoid  
> messing things up).
>
> Suffice it to say that I proceed with caution in areas like this.  
> Because of my limited knowledge, I want to make sure that I'm making  
> no assumptions.

As a macintosh user who's stepping in to the world of linux software  
(because of lilypond), I can say that usually, when I download source  
files, there is usually a very helpful README or INSTALL file,  
sometimes those are hidden in a doc or documentation folder (I always  
forget to look there) and they help tons. Also, I've learned that ./ 
configure --help is really helpful. And, something that wasn't clear  
until I read very closely the lilypond documentation on installing  
lilypond is that,
If you are not root, you should choose a --prefix argument that points  
into your home directory, e.g.

     ./configure --prefix=$HOME/usr
What that means is that if you aren't logged in as the user root  
(which you most likely aren't) then you kinda should put as one of the  
configure options that lilypond should install somewhere that's  
specific to you, e.g., ~/

Outside of that, read the instructions in lilypond-program a couple of  
times, and hopefully it should one day all make sense. If it's any  
consolation, lilypond was the first program that I tried to compile  
for myself, and the last one that I was able to successfully.