Ok, thank you all very much for your helpful comments. I now understand
that if a package contains an executable, then it's meant to be executed.
Here's why I was asking:

I'm trying to get a C/C++ compiler installed on my Linux machine. I've had
several failed attempts most of the afternoon thus far. Can anyone
recommend where I can get a compiler for C++ with a package manager so that
I can then execute the compiler on a makefile?

Your help is, as always, greatly appreciated!

arenaTR <arenaTR@comcast.net> wrote:
The compiler won't execute a makefile. make is the tool that will read
the makefile and call the compiler or whatever is necessary to "make
the file".

If you installed your distribution "the standard way", you should
already have compiler and make installed.

Just open a terminal and type make. You should see something like
make: *** No targets
It means "hey, I don't know what you want me to do", it also tells you
that make is there and is working. Then tyoe
gcc --version
It should display something that tells you that gcc is there, but again,
he doesn't know what you want from him.

Now, go and RTFM.

Davide

Davide:

Thank you for this bit of help. I had already figured that part out,
unfortuantely, it's not installed, and I can't figure out why. I'm using
suse linux personal 9.0. You would think that it would be installed but
it's not. The only thing that has come close was "gcc1" which to me looked
like a GCC compiler, but that command doens't work either. Any other
suggestions or is there a way to get a list of available commands in linux?

"Davide Bianchi" <davideyeahsure@onlyforfun.net> wrote in message
news:bq5k2q$1uvn82$1@ID-18487.news.uni-berlin.de...

On Thu, 27 Nov 2003 14:34:10 -0500, "arenaTR" <arenaTR@comcast.net> wrote:

How To Ask Questions The Smart Way
http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html
....read it ... you'll make more head-way; we dont have
a crystal ball to guess what you have, etc

.... you've provided ZERO details about your environment


.... compilers dont execute against a makefile - 'make' more or
less executes against a makefile; it executes the instructions
in the makefile, which might include a hint to execute the
c/c++ system
..
--
/// Michael J. Tobler: motorcyclist, surfer, skydiver, \\\
\\\ and author: "Inside Linux", "C++ HowTo", "C++ Unleashed" ///
[Nuclear war] ... may not be desirable. - Edwin Meese III

arenaTR <arenaTR@comcast.net> wrote:
Then use Yast or Yast2 to install the relevant parts, I guess you'll need
make, gcc, the libraries, automake, autoconf, binutils, bison and
maybe something more. Or just re-install the whole stuff on itself
performing an upgrade.

Press tab twice.

Davide

arenaTR <arenaTR@comcast.net> wrote:
They come with your linux machine. There is no need to "get" one. It's
one of the most basic utilities on a linux box.

Eh? You execute make on a makefile, not a compiler on a makefile. And
make is not part of a compiler. Maybe you mean execute a compiler IN or
WITH or BY a makefile?

Just click on the gcc and g++ stuff in your package manager. But if you
are missing stuff as basic as that then it means you "forgot" to install
the entire development set of packages, and you are missing much more
than just gcc and g++! You will never get to where you can compile on
your ownsome package by package like that - go back to your install gui
and install the development section!

Peter

arenaTR wrote:

What is your distro? (Sorry, it was SuSE. You should always put this in
your post, along with any hardware that might be relevant, including your
processor type, if that matters.)

The usual C++ compiler is gcc. You should already have it, but in Mandrake,
half the time, you need to add a symlink between c++ and g++ or gcc. If it
isn't there, look for gcc and gcc-devel RPMs. With respect, if you are not
aware of at least this much, you might have difficulty programming. It
sounds as though what you really need is a programming environment to work
in, but that is entirely out of my league. KDE has Kdevelop, but on my
Mandrake 9.1, it depends on old versions of automake and autoconf, and gets
removed when I upgrade the latter.

HTH,

Doug.
--
Registered Linux User No. 277548.
They say lightning never strikes twice in the same place. My typing is
about as accurate. Apologies for any typos that slip in. - Doug.

In <ZcCdncWFCLl6zFui4p2dnA@comcast.com>, on 11/27/2003
at 02:34 PM, "arenaTR" <arenaTR@comcast.net> said:

I'm not sure where you need to go next, but that sort of thing is why
I bought SUSE Pro; most of what I need is on the disks, and Yast knows
how to install them. Do you have a friend with SUSE Pro? It's legal
for him to give you copies of the disks.

--
Shmuel (Seymour J.) Metz, SysProg and JOAT

Unsolicited bulk E-mail will be subject to legal action. I reserve
the right to publicly post or ridicule any abusive E-mail.

Reply to domain Patriot dot net user shmuel+news to contact me. Do
not reply to spamtrap@library.lspace.org

arenaTR wrote:
It sounds like you did a "workstation" install or whatever SuSe calls it
- it installed a user environment without the development environment.
If that's the case, you're probably better off doing a complete reinstall.

make (and gcc) and all other development tools depend on all sorts of
other packages that may not have been installed - all those
XYZ-devel.rpm packages.

do a rpm -qa | grep devel and see what you get. You should see lots and
lots of packages. If you only see a handful or none, your simplest way
is to reinstall with all of the development tools. (Sorry, perhaps Yast
can do this without reinstalling; I've nver used it.)

-Kamus

--
What am I on?
I'm on my bike, o__
6 hours a day, busting my ass. ,>/'_
What are you on? --Lance Armstrong (_)\(_)

On Thu, 27 Nov 2003 14:56:21 -0500, "arenaTR" <arenaTR@comcast.net> wrote:

.... install all the development packages - they're there
http://www.suse.com/us/private/produ...dex_group.html
..
--
/// Michael J. Tobler: motorcyclist, surfer, skydiver, \\\
\\\ and author: "Inside Linux", "C++ HowTo", "C++ Unleashed" ///
In those days he was wiser than he is now -- he used to
frequently take my advice. - Winston Churchill