[SLED 11] How to install ncurses.h?

[Th30n]

Hello everyone!

As You can tell I'm a new linux user. I bought a laptop (HP Pro Book 4525s) with preinstalled SUSE (Linux Enterprise Desktop), because I'm really starting to need one for my studies and programming needs.

I searched the net but I couldn't find a clear answer to my questions. Some say use apt-get ncurses-devel, or something else but obviously that doesn't work on my OS.

So, to get to the point. I need advice how can I get SUSE to compile a program which includes curses.h?

I've found the ncurses site "gnu.org"
from which I can download the latest library but the process of installing seems difficult (for a newbie). Is there an easier way to get the library, or should I follow the instructions (from this site and the ones in source file) and install it "the hard way"?

There are some libncurses.so.6 files in /lib but I guess they have nothing to do with me getting an error when compiling my .c file (curses.h: no such file or directory)

P.S. I hope I've put this in right forum.

P.P.S. If anyone is interested why I want ncurses - I'm thinking 'bout making a roguelike in my free time

[Rubberman]

You need to user your package manager to install the ncurses development package.

[jarome]

But I would dump the SLES 11 and install OpenSUSE 11.4 or Ubuntu. They are much more up to date, and with SUSE 11.4 you can use the online software at software.opensuse.org. Search for what you want, and it will be installed after you give the root password. I had an HP Netbook with SLES 10, and it was awful. Incompatible with newer packages. HP has no decent support either. I eventually installed Ubuntu on it, which I also recommend. Ubuntu has really good support for netbooks and wireless.

[unlimitedscolobb]

You need to user your package manager to install the ncurses development package.

Adding just a tiny bit of clarification: Package management - openSUSE

I've skimmed through this article; apparently, it contains all the necessary information. Also, some googling told me that the package ncurses-devel is included in the repositories for openSUSE, so Th30n shouldn't have trouble installing it.

[Th30n]

Yeah, but I have that Novell's Suse ... Thanks for trying to help, I'm currently downloading SDK DVD from Novell's site - there they might have it. And I asked on their forums.

I'll see how it goes.

I've added openSuse's repository to Yast but I get a message the files aren't compatible so I rather not try installing it.

I guess old fashioned source installation of tar.gz will do the trick if nothing else before it does.

[martinfromdublin]

What about a dual boot? Use Yast's installer package partitoning software to shrink SLES 11 & install OpenSuse 11.4 beside it? The two should then appear on boot-up for you to choose from. Only thing to be aware of is that if the machine has a 'reset to factory' option (by pressing F10 or F11 on start-up) this might be disabled after you shrink the partition so making a restore disk first (if possible) might be an idea.

[Th30n]

Yeah, I'll definitely switch to OpenSuse when I'll have more free time. As it seems openSuse is a lot better than SLED.

[Th30n]

It seems I needed to download SDK DVD1.iso from Novell's site. There's the ncurses-devel package.

Thanks a lot anyways.

P.S. I'll surely return in another topic with more questions