[MPlayer-users] ./config fails looking for libpng

[Kevin Collins]

On Mon, 2003-01-20 at 18:26, Yourself wrote:
> The thing is that if you compile libpng from source, you get the
> libraries libpng.* and all the necessary files in order to COMPILE
> comething using libpng, and of course run anything compiled against
> libpng.
> 
> If you install the libpng package, you can run anything PRE-compiled for
> you that is linked against libpng, but you lack the necessary files to
> compile something of your own... those files are in libpng-dev package.
> 

This caught me too, I had the libpng packages but not the dev.  I'm glad
someone *finally* explained it too me.  But, one thing I'd like to add
here:

If you never use the "configure" at the beginning of the *compile*
process, you'd never see this message.  Doesn't that _imply_ that you're
trying to compile from source if you run "./configure"????  That to me
means you _need_ the dev packages.

<rant on>
I would like to add my frustration to Peter's.  I _am_ new to linux, and
I concede that 99.9% of the probelms I'm having are associated with
this.  But to say it's as simple as "./configure, make, make install" is
ludicrous.  I've been trying to get past the "config" for three days
now.

I'm new to linux, but I'm stupid.  I can read, but _nothing_ in the
docs, or the error messages that I've gotten, has said "do <this> to fix
the problem you're having".  That is why I'm on this list!

Understand that not everyone who is trying to get this wonderful program
working is a developer and can understand the dev-speak that the errors
are spitting out.

One other thing that _kills_ me is the fact that there is a limit on the
size of the e-mails that this list can accept.  While trying to get _as
much_ information as possible to those that could help me, my very last
e-mail went to 77k in size - mainly because of the configure.log that I
added to it - and now I'm waiting on moderator approval before it can be
posted?  PLEASE, what's up with that?

I've seen this program work and I want it to work in SuSE 8.1 (my
machine), but it's becoming very obvious that it may be impossible - at
least through the processes that I've been going through here.  I'm
asking for help - from those who know MUCH more about it than me. 
That's how I'll learn.  Maybe once I learn, I can help someone else -
isn't that the BEST part of Linux???
</end rant>

I do lo9ve the program and I'll keep working on this problem until I get
it working.  I just need help.

Thanks again for all of the effort put into the development.
-- 
==========================================================================
- Kevin L. Collins, MCSE                      Reqistered Linux
User:268269
-                                             http://counter.li.org
SuSE Linux 8.1 Pro
==========================================================================
"Some people have told me they don't think a fat penguin really embodies
the grace of Linux, which just tells me they have never seen a angry
penguin charging at them in excess of 100mph.  They'd be a lot more
careful about what they say if they had."
--Linus Torvalds, announcing Linux v2.0