Is it possible to install ctags without root privs?

Question

I have user access to a Ubuntu instance and I'd like to use CTags. The error says:

The program 'ctags' can be found in the following packages:
 * exuberant-ctags
 * emacs22-bin-common
 * emacs21-bin-common
 * elvis-tools
 * emacs-snapshot-bin-common
Ask your administrator to install one of them
-bash: ctags: command not found

This and all the instructions online indicate that I need to be root. Is there a way to install it as a user?

Solution 1

If you are the one who installed this Ubuntu machine, then you are the user with uid 1000 meaning that you can run commands requiring root via the sudo command, e.g.

sudo app-get install exuberant-ctags

You may need to precede this with

sudo apt-get update

to get fresh package information.

Solution 2

You should be able to do it yourself if you compile and install your own copy of the editor. You're not going to be able to install a system-wide package like the ones it's asking for without being root.

Solution 3

Certainly, just install it in your home directory from source.

Go to http://ctags.sourceforge.net/ and download the latest version. Expand it, open a terminal and go to the directory where you expanded it, then do this:

./configure --prefix=`( cd ~ ; pwd ~ )`
make all
make install

Now, edit your PATH with this (assuming bash, which is probably what you are using if you don't know how to do this without help):

export PATH=$PATH:`( cd ~ ; pwd ~ )`/bin

You might want to add that last line into your .bashrc or .bash_profile file as well for that matter.

Comments

[Admin]

No --- the point of Ubuntu and Debian is that you have more than 20,000 sanely built and configured packages available.

[Paul McMillan]

You fail at reading the question. He said he doesn't have root access.

[Admin]

Yes, sometimes you don't have permission to run apt-get install, like when you have an account with a hosting provider where you share the machine with many other users. I find sometimes I need to install a source tarball this way, and these instructions are solid.

[Harold L]

How does pwd ~ differ from just pwd? Why not just $HOME?

[Admin]

debian packages are wonderful and all, but any unix user should know how to install packages from source into a local directory. It's useful for testing packages before installing globally, compiling a personal version that's different from the local version (I always compile a custom mutt for myself), and it works on every unix-like operating system.

[Admin]

For me it looks like .bash_profile already gets loaded even with just a terminal login (setup by the admin sometime ago). So adding that line made a circular reference, and locked up bash! Using scp, I got rid of .bash_profile and fixed it. Your post is helpful in general. Just wanted to point out the possible problem with pointing to bashrc from bash_profile.

[Admin]

Nevermind. I had another portion of my bashrc that was sensitive to being loaded twice. Not related to your answer. Sorry for the misinformation on my part.