how to install a source file?

[tjb2]

I currently have Xubuntu 12.10 installed.
I have my source file downloaded. The file name is "higan_v093-source.tar.xz"
after opening terminal and locating the file with cd Downloads/ ls

I was wondering if anyone could show me how to install this file.
"higan v093 (GPLv3 source)"

thanks

[SeijiSensei]

You cannot install a source file. You must compile an executable binary from the source code first. Read this guide for more details.

[Elfy]

Not often that I actually need to do it - and I always forget ...

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/CompilingEasyHowTo

This usually gets me through it.

[Impavidus]

I don't know how it is for others, but I get http error 403 (forbidden) when I try to download that file, so I can't give specific instructions. Judging from the extension it must be an archive. Unpack it and with some luck you'll find a file called README or INSTALL. It may give you some instructions.

[tjb2]

thanks guys, i'll check those links and see what i can do to get this thing running.. i'll update if it works or not.

[Petro Dawg]

That is not an easy question to answer unless someone who just happened to install that exact file on a system simalar to yours decides to help out. Also the link you provided does not appear to work for me "Error 403 - Forbidden"...

Generally you would need to first extract the contents of the tar file into a folder. If you are lucky there will be a README with instructions on how to install from there. Otherwise you will have to do your research to figure out what you need to do. Sometimes it is as simple as running...

./configure
make 
sudo make install

in teminal from the directory that you extracted the files into. But I wouldn't count on it being that easy.

[Elfy]

I've managed to grab it from http://byuu.org/higan/release/

[tjb2]

I went through most of the notions..im gonna try again tomorrow. thanks for the help guys. this was helpful.