Run `perl Makefile.PL` to generate a Makefile, then run `make` and `make install`. To configure pristine-tar for your local environment, you may specify the following additional parameters to Makefile.PL for the creation of the Makefile PERL_SHEBANG= TAR_PROGRAM= XDELTA_PROGRAM= The PERL_SHEBANG needs only to be adapted in rare cases, as it is usually correctly set by MakeMaker. However, the TAR_PROGRAM should refer to the GNU version of Tar, which may be called, e.g., "tar" (default), "gtar", or "gnutar" depending on the system. The XDELTA_PROGRAM needs to refer to the Xdelta program in version 1.x (http://xdelta.org), which may be called, e.g., "xdelta" (default) or "xdelta1". Xdelta3 won't work, as it has a different command line syntax. The installation destination (default: /usr/local) can be specified either via the ./Makefile.PL parameter: PREFIX= or INSTALL_BASE= See the manpage (or perldoc) of ExtUtils::MakeMaker for more details. EXAMPLE: $ perl Makefile.PL \ TAR_PROGRAM=gnutar \ XDELTA_PROGRAM=xdelta \ PREFIX=/usr/local $ make $ make install