Installing from source. How to resolve dependencies without destroying the package manager

Most packages will have a <package>-dev (for Debian based) or <package>-devel (for Red Hat based) that will be the libraries needed to link against for building.

So, for example if the source says it requires libxml, in Debian based systems you'll find libxml2 and libxml2-dev (use apt-cache search <dependancy> to find them).

You'll need the libxml2-dev to build it, and libxml2 to run it.

The ./configure step usually supports flags like --with-libxml=/usr/lib/ to point it at the correct libraries (./configure --help should list all of the options). It also usually supports changing the install location with --prefix=$HOME/sw. Using a prefix outside of what your package manager controls is the best way to avoid conflicts with package manager installed software.

On Debian & derivatives using a --prefix of /usr/local/ or /opt/local/ should be safe.

If a library (or version) you need isn't available from the package manager just download the source and compile it using similar options. Most importantly use a --prefix outside of your package manager and when compiling the software you really want use --with-<library>=/<path/to/installed/library>.

There is the tool auto-apt which can be used for this.

From man auto-apt:

auto-apt is a program that checks file access of programs running within auto-apt environments. If a program will access a file of unin- stalled package, auto-apt will install the package containing the file, by using apt-get.

It is used as follows:

auto-apt run ./configure

Another way is to use apt-get build-dep <package> on Debian based distributions.

For RPM based distributions, you could try your hand at creating proper packages (it isn't that hard...).

Benefits of a proper package are that your package manager keeps track of the software, and you can easily replicate your setup elsewhere/on the next machine. With a proper source package porting forward (new upstream version, bugfix patch, underlying libraries get updated) is easier than having to figure it all out from scratch next time.