I have a directory called ~/download/sources where I put all of my downloaded bits and pieces, so if you want to follow my instructions exactly, go ahead and create that folder like this:
mkdir -p ~/download/sources
Next, you need to unpack the Predict-2.2.x source code and compile it to produce a working program. Predict works best if you work as root when you install it, so before doing this next bit, you'll need to become root on your system. Run these commands, replacing yourusername with whatever user you normally log into your Linux box with. You'll also need to check the name of the directory that you end up with after untar'ing the source - this changes with each new release of predict - and substitute this in the 'ln -s' command below.
cd /usr/local
tar -zxf ~yourusername/download/miscsources/predict-latest.tar.gz
ln -s predict-2.2.1 predict
cd predict
./configure
ln -sf /usr/local/predict/predict /usr/local/bin/predict
Just for the benefit of anyone who already has some experience of building software from source code under Linux,
there is no 'make && make install' step required for Predict-2.2.x, as it doesn't use GNU autoconf, despite what the
presence of the 'configure' script might make you think.
Update October 27th 2003: When compiling predict-2.2.2 on my Mandrake 9.1 system, I discovered that the build process fails to detect that my machine has a soundcard. This isn't a huge problem, so I'll come back to this at a later date...
When you run predict from the command prompt in an xterm for the first time, you'll see a couple of introductory
screens where you have to accept the terms of the license under which predict is released and then enter your ground
station details. If you make a mistake when entering your details, you can change them later from within predict.
