[ Thanks to Ian MacGregor for this
link. ]
“I regularly sit in the #ubuntu channel on the Freenode
network helping folks with Ubuntu issues. One of the things I see
people often doing is attempting to install software from source
before researching easier installation methods.“The proper steps for software installation on Ubuntu, in my
opinion, are as follows:“Step 1
“Search the Ubuntu software repositories (known as repos). The
Ubuntu repos are huge and there’s a good chance that the app you’re
looking for is already packaged for use in Ubuntu. It’s important
to note here that it’s best to install software from the repos
which are meant for your version of Ubuntu. Mixing release packages
(using Jaunty repos in Karmic) or distros (using debian repos in
Ubuntu) can cause problems on your system, so stick with the proper
repos. If you’re unsure as to which version of Ubuntu you are
using, run lsb_release -a in a terminal.”