Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. Developing a program to be run on a wide number of different computers is a daunting task. A Configure script matches the libraries on the user's computer, with those required by the program, just before compiling it from its source code. Obtaining software on Microsoft Windows or Macintosh computers is often as simple as copying the final product (an executable) to the appropriate place. Obtaining software directly from the source code (a standard procedure on unix computers) involves the following steps: configuring the makefile, compiling the code, and finally installing the executable in the appropriate place. A configure script accomplishes the first of these steps.

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