To be able to run a program without the ./, the program must exist in your path. By default, the current working directory is not in the path. You can check your path by doing (in a terminal)
. If you would like to make it so that your current directory is in your path, you can add the following to the .bashrc file in your home directory (note that the dot in the filename makes it hidden)
Code:
export PATH=$PATH:.
Note the :. , that is the part that adds to your path.