I realize this question might be more appropriate in the GNU pages, but it seems that there is a good chance I can find some excellent help here. (I’ve posted to the gnu help lists, as well.)
I’m trying to be administrator for my own SUSE Linux system, and I’ve never done anything like this before. That is, my Linux experience is still a bit thin.
I need to install the gcc-fortran subpackage, because my version of SUSE did not come with this (admittedly it’s the retail version, SLED 10.1), and I have learned in no uncertain terms that they no longer support this capability. The fortran compiler is needed to install some executables for data analysis.
I have downloaded the gcc-fortran tarball specific to the version of gcc that came with my SUSE distribution (4.1.2), and untarred/unzipped it in a temporary directory separate from the src directories. Now I’m unsure about how to proceed.
From what I can find, the documentation for this kind of task (a partial, add-on installation) is sparse both in the SUSE literature and in the GNU pages.
Alternatively, I’m considering just updating to a more recent version of gcc (e.g. 4.3.3) and doing the COMPLETE installation, with all the subpackages, bells and whistles. This question’s details are more likely appropriate for a new/different thread, but if this is the better way to go than what I’ve described above, I’d appreciate that input!