[olug] rpm Howto

[Kenton Brede]

On Fri, Sep 12, 2003 at 01:53:33AM -0500, nate wrote:
> This is a sequence of commands and results after running the location sequence 
> you showed me Kent!
> 
> [root at localhost home]# updatedb
> [root at localhost home]# $ locate BUILD
                         ^
I was just using "$" to indicate running "locate" as a regular user.

> bash: $: command not found

As you found out:) 

> [root at localhost home]# locate BUILD
> /root/rpm/BUILD
> /usr/share/doc/freetype2-devel-2.1.3/BUILD
> /usr/X11R6/lib/X11/doc/BUILD
> /usr/src/RPM/BUILD
> [root at localhost home]#
> 
> I ran the-  mkdir-p ~/rpm/BUILD-  which should have put the directory into 
> /home.   Why did it put it in the /usr/src/RPM/BUILD  directory?????
> 

I don't know what distro you are running but I imagine /usr/src/RPM/BUILD
was there by default.  For example one of our machines running AS has
the following directory by default, /usr/src/redhat/BUILD/

These directories are utilized while logged in as a root user.  The HOWTO
you are following is recommending you do most of the work while logged in
as a regular user.  In order to do that you need to create the directory
structure /rpm/BUILD in your home directory.  

The reason you have no /rpm/BUILD directory in your home directory is you
were logged in as root when you issued the command, "mkdir -p ~/rpm/BUILD".  
This placed the directories in the root user's home directory, /root/rpm/BUILD  

> 
> Also you prefaced one command with # and another with $  Is this a different 
> shell that I have to be in ????? I did everything with the #.

I indicated the "$" above to denote being logged in as a regular user.
"#" should be your prompt when you are logged in as root.

What is prompting you to build RPMs from source anyway?  Is the program
you want not available as a RPM package?  Most programs you should be
able to install from your CDROM media or download from rpmfind.net

Also you may find http://www.icon.co.za/~psheer/book/index.html.gz
helpful in learning some Linux basics. 
hth,
Kent

-- 
"I am always doing that which I can not do, 
   in order that I may learn how to do it." --Pablo Picasso