I would like to install the latest version of Pidgin (2.5.5) which is not available in the repository. The reason I want to do this is because the repository version is 5 months and 3 versions out of date (2.5.2) (even after the update the other day).

Do I need to uninstall the current repository version before I install the new version I got from the Pidgin website? From what I can tell, the answer is no.

I downloaded the source as there was no Ubuntu version. Opened the install readme and it says I need to configure, make, then install. Sounds simple enough and I start following the instructions.

Getting it to actually compile and install though is impossible. I have tried all the commands stated in the install readme (and none of them exist, let alone give errors.

I have downloaded autoconf and tried that but that just spouts errors. I am in the directory with pidgin-2.5.5.tar.bz2 in it.

Why can't people just make simple .deb files?

Ok, realised I had not unpacked it, so done that.

Now ./configure works however it comes up with an error:

However, I have libglib2.0-dev installed, so I don't know what I am supposed to be missing.

sudo apt-get build-dep pidgin libglib2.0-dev xorg-dev qt3-dev-tools qt4-dev-tools

then browse through synaptic and select all GTK 2.0 dev tools you can find.

I just added the source files to a folder and double click the icon 'no name' or alt+f2 run pidgin, and that boots up Pidgin no problem. Add it to startup or a create a shortcut for it. No problems so far.

It was so simple in the end...

extract pidgin-2.5.5.tar.bz2 using Archive Manager
sudo apt-get build-dep pidgin
./configure
make
sudo make install

Of course, this doesn't take into account the many options you have with configuring. However, if you just want a quick compile/install with all the options enabled, it is good.

Thanks everyone for your help.