Exploring the options for configuring the compilation
There are usually three steps when building an application from source—configuration, compilation, and installation. The configuration step allows you to select a number of options that will not be editable after the program is built, as it has a direct impact on the project binaries. Consequently, it is a very important stage that you need to follow carefully if you want to avoid surprises later, such as the lack of a specific module or files being located in a random folder.
The process consists of appending certain switches to the configure
script that comes with the source code. We will discover the three types of switches that you can activate, but let us first study the easiest way to proceed.
The easy way
If, for some reason, you do not want to bother with the configuration step, such as for testing purposes or simply because you will be recompiling the application in the future, you may simply use the configure...