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CheckInstall VS GNU Make

Compare CheckInstall VS GNU Make and see what are their differences

CheckInstall logo CheckInstall

CheckInstall is a Linux program which eases installation & uninstallation of software compiled from source.

GNU Make logo GNU Make

GNU Make is a tool which controls the generation of executables and other non-source files of a program from the program's source files.
  • CheckInstall Landing page
    Landing page //
    2020-09-10
  • GNU Make Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-03-12

CheckInstall features and specs

No features have been listed yet.

GNU Make features and specs

  • Portability
    GNU Make is highly portable and can be used across various Unix-like operating systems as well as on Windows.
  • Dependency Management
    It efficiently handles complex dependencies between various parts of the software, ensuring that changes are propagated properly.
  • Open Source
    Being open-source software, GNU Make is freely available and can be modified according to user needs.
  • Wide Adoption
    It is widely adopted in the industry, which means that there is extensive documentation and a large community for support.
  • Efficiency
    GNU Make speeds up the build process by only recompiling the necessary parts of the codebase.

Possible disadvantages of GNU Make

  • Complex Syntax
    The syntax of GNU Makefiles can become very complex, especially for large projects, making them hard to read and maintain.
  • Limited Cross-Platform Scripting
    While the tool itself is cross-platform, Makefiles can sometimes include shell commands that are not portable.
  • Steep Learning Curve
    Beginners may find it challenging to grasp the concepts and syntax of GNU Make, leading to a steep learning curve.
  • Debugging Difficulty
    Debugging Makefiles can be difficult, with limited tools available to trace or step through the make process.
  • Performance Bottlenecks
    For extremely large projects, performance can become an issue, as the evaluation of dependencies might become slow.

Analysis of GNU Make

Overall verdict

  • Yes, GNU Make is a robust and reliable tool for managing build processes. Its long-established reputation and widespread use in both open-source and commercial projects underline its effectiveness and flexibility.

Why this product is good

  • GNU Make is widely used because it automates the build process, efficiently handling dependencies and detecting minimal sets of changes in source files. It is highly customizable, supports non-recursive builds, and integrates well into various development environments.

Recommended for

  • Software developers working on C/C++ projects
  • Teams looking to automate build processes
  • Projects that require cross-platform build capabilities
  • Developers who prefer command-line tools
  • Open-source project maintainers

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to CheckInstall and GNU Make)
Windows Tools
100 100%
0% 0
JS Build Tools
0 0%
100% 100
Front End Package Manager
JavaScript Package Manager

User comments

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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, CheckInstall seems to be more popular. It has been mentiond 3 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

CheckInstall mentions (3)

  • Are there tools to manage self compiled software?
    Checkinstall to create deb or rpm package out of source installs which you can easily remove with your package manager again. (But this only keeps track of the installed files, doesn't do any dependency tracking). Source: almost 5 years ago
  • Completely uninstall/remove package compiled from source?
    There is also checkinstall which you run instead of make install. It creates a (simple) RPM package for you. You can remove that package with your package manager later on for easy uninstallation. Source: about 5 years ago
  • How do you manage packages installed form tar files?
    Checkinstall is a rather popular way of dealing with self compiled packages. Source: over 5 years ago

GNU Make mentions (0)

We have not tracked any mentions of GNU Make yet. Tracking of GNU Make recommendations started around Mar 2021.

What are some alternatives?

When comparing CheckInstall and GNU Make, you can also consider the following products

Porg - Porg (formerly known as paco), is a program to aid management of software packages installed from source code.

CMake - CMake is an open-source, cross-platform family of tools designed to build, test and package software.

SCons - SCons is an Open Source software construction tool—that is, a next-generation build tool.

Advanced Package Tool - Apt (for Advanced Package Tool) is a set of core tools inside Debian.

SBT - SBT is a build tool for Scala, like Ant or Maven but with hieroglyphics.

LazFuck - LazFuck is a GUI application for writing, executing, compiling and debugging programs written in famous BrainFuck esoteric programming language.