Re: [gentoo-user] Installing outside of Portage & cruft removal

[Jesús Guerrero]

On Mon, January 26, 2009 21:44, Paul Hartman wrote:
> On Mon, Jan 26, 2009 at 2:30 PM, Grant <emailgrant@×××××.com> wrote:
>>>> Writing an ebuild is best, but sometimes you just want to give a
>>>> program a try without writing an ebuild (like everyone else running
>>>> Linux does) and a scruft script enables you to do that without making
>>>> a mess of your system.
>>>
>>> Not to be picky, it's just an idea but in that case, isn't it way
>>> easier to
>>> just ./configure --prefix=/some/dir/inside/yourhome or edit a makefile?
>>
>> I have to say I know nothing about compiling or installing outside of
>> portage.  Does specifying a prefix like that work?  You get a fully
>> functional program with nothing installed outside of some/dir?
>
> Yes, it's the "normal way" for people that don't use package managers.
> I almost always install into my home directory for programs that
> aren't in portage (or make my own ebuild if it is a simple one). Or
> depending on what program it is, create a user for it and run it under
> that user account so it can't touch anything else.

Yes. It's mostly that simple. Though sometimes in more complex programs
you might need some extra setup (i.e. configure some variable so the program
can find its path to the required libs or so). It really depends on the
program,
however if you open the readme or install file and take a look 99% of the
times the procedure should be described there. Not all programs use the
tipical make system, so you should always check the docs, and in any case
save the source tree for further refference, or just to be able to make
uninstall.

Note that this is the cleanest method, and in some cases it's the only option
(i.e. you don't have root access to the machine, so you have to build in your
home dir).

>
> Also, a lot of more simple programs don't even need to be installed.
> Just untar it, configure it, make it and run it from the directory in
> which the source resides.

This work for smaller programs very well. Just make and launch it.

-- 
Jesús Guerrero