[TAG] Re: Help

[Ben Okopnik]

On Sun, Nov 07, 2004 at 08:19:20PM +0000, Thomas Adam wrote:
>  --- breman <breman at camgsm.com.kh> wrote: 
> > 
> > I have install in as default configure (usr/local/) and now I want to
> > reinstall it in /usr/local/quota312 folder.
> > How to uninstall it?
> 
> Uninstalling compiled software can be hit and miss, since it depends
> whether the source makefile has an "uninstall" target in it, or not. So
> the first thing I would do, is for the source where you compiled your
> quota-tools, do:
> 
> ``
> cd /tmp/quota-tools/ && su -c 'make uninstall'
> ''
> 
> If that doesn't work, then the makefile probably doesn't support the
> feature, although it is worth looking at the makefile to see. The other
> option, if not, is to delete the files by hand. There are various tar and
> rm incantations to do that. But I would do it by hand, myself.
 
There's a way to do it that I invented in a fit of desperation; it's a
little manual but quite effective.

1. Run "make -n install > uninstall".
2. Edit the newly-created "uninstall" file and replace the "install" or
	"cp" commands with "rm", editing each line as necessary.
3. Run "sh uninstall".

> One other thing I will mention to you for the future is that if you find
> yourself compiling software from source a lot, I really do recommend you
> use stow [1,2]. It is a really useful piece of software and would have
> helped you here easily.

This, of course, is the best way overall. However, if the milk has
already been spilled and the horse has run out of the barn, the method I
suggest will save the day.


* Ben Okopnik * okopnik.freeshell.org * Editor-in-Chief, Linux Gazette *
-*- See the Linux Gazette in its new home: <http://linuxgazette.net> -*-