installing gcc-fortran on SUSE Linux

installing gcc-fortran on SUSE Linux

[Stephen Lynch]

Hello!

I've found an inquiry from a few years ago in these pages that asks  
almost exactly the question I have, but unfortunately there is no  
reply posted, so I'm trying again.

My system is running SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 10.1, which is the  
retail version of SUSE, and this particular version did not include  
the gcc-fortran subpackage, although it did include gcc with c, c++  
and some other important capabilities.   In order to install some data  
analysis executables I need the fortran compiler, but I have been told  
in no uncertain terms that they (Novell - the commercial packagers of  
this version of Linux) no longer support that capability.   More  
irritatingly, gcc -v reveals that indeed gcc WAS built with the  
fortran language included -- they just did not include it on the DVD.

SO, I'm hoping to install gcc-fortran after the fact, but exactly how  
to proceed is not obvious to me. I have downloaded and unzipped/ 
untarred the gcc-fortran tarball for the appropriate version (4.1.2)  
in a temporary directory, separate from any of the src or bin  
directories.  Documentation on how to add a gcc subpackage when there  
is already a partial gcc installation is a bit thin in both the GNU  
pages and the SUSE pages (both commercial and open).

Alternatively I am considering doing a complete, more up-to-date  
installation of gcc, including ALL subpackages, but I'm also unsure  
about how to do this.  While I'm not particularly concerned with  
keeping multiple versions of gcc intact, I would like to avoid  
creating any issues with these programs running because I was careless  
about overwriting shared libraries or something.

Note that this is the first time I have been an administrator (or  
anything but an end-user) of Linux, so my confidence and experience  
are both a bit shaky.

MANY THANKS in advance!

-stephen

Re: installing gcc-fortran on SUSE Linux

[Ian Lance Taylor]

Stephen Lynch <slynch@mpl.ucsd.edu> writes:

> Alternatively I am considering doing a complete, more up-to-date
> installation of gcc, including ALL subpackages, but I'm also unsure
> about how to do this.  While I'm not particularly concerned with
> keeping multiple versions of gcc intact, I would like to avoid
> creating any issues with these programs running because I was careless
> about overwriting shared libraries or something.

Do this, but install it somewhere else (by using the --prefix option
when you run configure).  Then your new compiler will not overwrite your
existing one.

Ian