Using these scripts is so easy that they hardly need explaining. But for those
who want it in writing ANYWAY:

a) Download the ENTIRE CONTENTS of the directory containing the package
   you wish to build. Don't skip anything. We recommend wget (from 
   http://wget.sunsite.dk/) for downloading. A wget SlackBuild is even
   included here for your convenience.

b) If there is a README file in the directory -- by all means
   READ IT FIRST! It's been put there for a reason!

c) Most source code tarballs at SlackBuild Central are EMPTY due to
   bandwidth constraints. You must obtain the source code separately. The name 
   of the required tarball is ONLY included for your information. Do a search
   on that name. When you find and download the real tarball, copy it over the
   empty placeholder.

d) Again, ensure that all downloaded files are in one directory on your
   machine. It's best to keep each package's build files in a directory
   dedicated to that package. For example for openssh create a directory
   named "openssh" and place all the downloaded files for openssh there.

e) Have a look through the SlackBuild script and change anything you wish
   changed. Take special note of the ./configure options. As a general rule,
   you can use the same SlackBuild script for later releases of the same 
   software. For example, the postfix SlackBuild can be used to build 
   postfix-1.1.7, even though the source tarball says "1.1.2". Just change 
   the VERSION value in the script from 1.1.2 to 1.1.7 and try a build. 
   Remember, you can't lose anything by trying!

f) If it is not already executable:
     chmod 700 SlackBuild

g) Build the package with:
     ./SlackBuild

h) If you wish to delete the build directories in /tmp after a build, instead 
   execute:
     ./SlackBuild --cleanup

i) With some newer SlackBuild scripts, executing
     ./SlackBuild --cleanup --nomove
   is necessary to end up with the finished package in the /tmp directory. See 
   point (m) for more information.

j) Most newer scripts have an extra line of code that will log screen output. 
   The log file will be deposited in the same directory as the SlackBuild
   script, and named packagename.build.log.

k) All finished packages are normally named packagename-version.tgz. This
   format is fully compatible with Slackware 8.0, because 8.0's packaging 
   system doesn't really look at architecture and build tags. If you want to
   include these tags anyway (example: foo-1.2.3-i386-1.tgz, where 
   "-i386-1" are the extra bits) just add the bits to the end of the
   VERSION=1.2.3 line near the top of the script (this example would end 
   up with VERSION=1.2.3-i386-1).
   
l) If non-versioning (ie. ordinary packagename.tgz) is required, simply change 
   $NAME-$VERSION.tgz near the end of the SlackBuild script to $NAME.tgz.

m) Some newer SlackBuilds will create a new package/ sub-directory where the
   script resides, and move the finished package into that directory.
   This is NOT standard SlackBuild behaviour, but something that the author
   included as a matter of personal preference. So if you can't find your 
   package in /tmp, look in package/ instead.

n) Finally, many of the SlackBuilds here include a "description" file in the 
   install/ directory of the package. Installing these packages will create 
   an /install directory on the receiving system. This directory can safely 
   be deleted with:
      cd /
      rm -r install
   Alternately, you can rename "description" to "slack-desc" and become 
   fully compliant with the official Slackware 8.0 package tools.


   Enjoy!
   George Georgakis
   <admin-at-tripleg-net-au>
   Monday 3 April 2002