Understanding UNIX software installation

When installing software on your UNIX system, keep in mind two things. First, most software, including scripts, relies on other programs or scripts being available at specific places within the system. For example, a script might require that the bash shell be available and located at /bin/bash. Or, a program might expect that it will be in /usr/local/bin and that all user home directories will be under /home. So, you should pay special attention during the installation process to make sure that all other required scripts or programs are available.

Second, programs (but not scripts) are compiled, which means that they're taken from one probably-mostly-readable-to-you language (generically called source code) and translated into computer-readable files (often called binaries). As software is compiled, hardware and operating system-specific characteristics (or dependencies) are built in. So, a program that's compiled to run on a specific platform and operating system cannot run on other ones—that is, a program compiled on Linux on a Pentium cannot run on Linux on an Alpha, Solaris on a Pentium, or Digital UNIX on an Alpha.

In fact, most UNIX programs are distributed as source code, not as binaries, so you can compile them for your particular system when installing.