Install from source on a x86_64 machine

[Christopher Taylor]

> The README should provide sufficient information, although if you want
> to install Python into /usr rather than /usr/local (as I believe is the
> default), you need to run configure as follows:
>
> ./configure --prefix=/usr
>

Yeah, I saw that in the readme.

>
> In fact, it's /usr/bin/python, /usr/bin/python2.3, /usr/lib64/python2.3
> and /usr/lib/python, since Red Hat hasn't decided to capitalise the
> name of the software. ;-)
>

ok you got me, type-o ....

> The configured Makefile together with the various other tools should
> work out where to put the libraries. I'm a newcomer to x86-64, although
> I've had some relatively recent experience with sparc64, and whilst I'm
> not really familiar with the way the various tools choose the install
> directory of libraries, I've noticed that sometimes 64-bit libraries
> end up in lib rather than lib64. Meanwhile, I notice that the Red Hat
> libraries do adhere correctly to the expectation that 32-bit libraries
> are found under /usr/lib/python2.3 and 64-bit libraries are found under
> /usr/lib64/python2.3.
>
> Perhaps you should configure and make Python, then run the install
> process in "pretend" mode:
>
> make -n altinstall
>
> You'll get a huge amount of output, but this should at least tell you
> what the installation process is thinking of doing, and it won't be
> overwriting anything important while it does so.
>


ok, so where does that leave me.  I'm not even sure which files
*should* be put in /lib64 vs lib.
>>> I guess what I'm expecting is a congifure option to specify where
architecture dependent files should be put.  <<<

Has anyone else mentioned this before?

Respectfully,
Christopher Taylor