From: nospam@needed.invalid   
      
   On 4/3/2024 11:05 AM, Jeff Gaines wrote:   
   >   
   > Is there an easy to use program with a graphical interface that I can   
   > just point to the top level tar.gz file and it will do all it needs   
   > to install the program please?   
      
   A .tgz can have an INSTALL and a README or README.md file in it.   
   These are text files, with instructions. They can range from   
   terse and unhelpful, to moderately helpful instructions.   
      
   A certain level of knowledge is assumed.   
      
   On a CMAKE, for example, the instructions will tell   
   you to "cd to build, before issuing our magic command".   
   And the build folder is where the staging will happen.   
   It "builds into" the build folder. Maybe no one tells you   
   that you need to install cmake first, to do a cmake build.   
   That would be a missing detail.   
      
   For a:   
      
   ./configure   
   make   
   sudo make install   
      
   type of build from source, the INSTALL file will   
   list those three commands for you. Some early packages   
   would tell you of the dependencies and build options   
   to expect (just a few lines of highlights like that   
   is really helpful). Whereas modern files only list the three   
   commands, and leave every other detail... to your imagination.   
      
   Occasionally, a distro did not install "make" and/or "build-essential",   
   which is a criminal act. (That's because some of your software   
   updates need a certain amount of materials for their installation   
   procedures. They really should not be missing, or bad things happen.)   
      
   A .tgz is like Christmas. Open and enjoy.   
      
      Paul   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)