Understanding Unix Software Installation

When installing software on your Unix system, keep in mind two things. First, most software, including a script, 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 ...

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