Normally, compiling things from source code is pretty routine. I was having some problem with the old 2.7 version of the Pidgin Instant Messenger. People I deleted/removed kept resurrecting from the dead, like a vampire. (2.7 is what is in the repository for Debian Squeeze.)
1. So I grabbed the source code and started compiling. I learned that you need to install a package before starting the compile process.
sudo apt-get install intltool
intltool is an international translation tool
2. Before you get started, let’s remove all the old programmes.
sudo apt-get purge libpurple0
removing libpurple should remove all the pidgin libraries, and pidgin itself.
to check, you can do:
dpkg -l | grep -E '(libpurple)|(pidgin)'
dpkg -l lists all the installed packages
grep -E use extended regular expressions
That should just return a prompt. If it does NOT,
sudo apt-get remove whatever package it shows.
3. so we are ready to start. after you extract the source code, cd to the directory and configure. My configure line looked like this:
./configure --disable-screensaver --disable-gtkspell --disable-vv --disable-meanwhile --disable-avahi --disable-nm --disable-perl --disable-tcl
Let’s try to break this down.
–disable-screensaver – if you don’t need xscreensaver support, disable this.
–disable-gtkspell – if you do not use automatic spell correct, disable.
— disable-vv – if you do NOT need video/voice support disable.
–disable-meanwhile if you do not need meanwhile (sametime) disable. No idea what that is.
–disable-avahi if you do not need avahi support (looking for services like printers on localhost) disable
–disable-nm if you do not need network manager support (guess I did not) disable
–disable-perl — if you do not need perl support, disable.
–disable-tcl — if you do not need tool command language (tcl) support, disable.
Whew. That’s a boatload of things to disable! (It is why I made this entry)
4. Compiling will take some time. So go take a break, get a c.r.b. (cool refreshing beverage), etc.
make
5. When it is all done compiling:
sudo make install
Enjoy the goodness!