Install linux package from source.

[Ralf Mardorf]

On Tue, 16 Feb 2021 03:23:51 +0100, Ralf Mardorf wrote:
>>On 15/02/2021 22:22, M.R.P. zensky via ubuntu-users wrote:  
>>> what is a good directory to install programs?    

PS: On Linux consider to install your local builds to

>  ./configure --prefix=/usr/local

    Consider to avoid this on FreeBSD. Even on Linux another common
    path for local builds is /opt. When I build local Linux packages, I
    sometimes prefer /usr over /usr/local. Without building a package I
    recommend to install to /usr/local or /opt.

    Since you are unfamilar with building from source, consider to
    mention what you want to build and install, since you might risk to
    mess up your install. Just imagine you build and overwrite 
    "libfoo.so.1", while your "libfoo.so.1" isn't patched, but Ubuntu's
    "libfoo.so.1" is patched for good reasons. Or you build
    "libbar.so.2", but your Ubuntu does require "libbar.so.1". As long
    as you keep "libbar.so.1" everything is ok, but if a package gets
    replaced and should remove "libbar.so.1" you would break your
    Ubuntu install or if you one day would rebuild an Ubuntu package
    that should build against "libbar.so.1", you need to check first
    against what version libbar.so does link.

    Is the source secure? If so, did you check the downloaded source
    against a _signed_ checksum (not just a checksum)?

    If the software you want to build from source isn't available by
    Ubuntu repositories, did you check what's the reason for this.

    An example, https://packages.ubuntu.com/xenial/libwebkitgtk-1.0-0
    is available for Ubuntu 16.04 and 18.04, but not for >= 20.04.
    There could be different reasons for discontinued or never provided
    packages. One reason is security. You shouldn't build vulnerable
    software such as this outdated webkit for Ubuntu installs >= 20.04,
    instead you should purge it from Ubuntu 16.04 and 18.04 installs.