7

I'm new to Linux so sorry if this is a very basic question.

I know you type the following to install something, you type these three commands:

./configure
make
sudo make install

I know . means the current directory. So does ./configure mean run the program configure in the current directory? If so, why can't you just type configure?

User314159
  • 205

1 Answers1

8

Only directories listed in $PATH are searched for commands to execute. The current directory is never included in $PATH as a security precaution, hence you have to specify it explicitly.

Ignacio Vazquez-Abrams
  • 114,604