Prepare Zlib to be compiled: CFLAGS="$CFLAGS -fPIC" \     ./configure --prefix=/usr --shared The -fPIC flag helps to assure quality in the dynamic zlib library. Some packages expect a static zlib library to be present on the system. To satisfy those programs, compile both the shared and static libraries: make LIBS="libz.so.1.1.4 libz.a" Install the libraries: make LIBS="libz.so.1.1.4 libz.a" install The shared zlib library should be installed in the /lib directory. That way, in the event that you must boot without the /usr directory, vital system programs will still have access to the library: mv /usr/lib/libz.so.* /lib The /usr/lib/libz.so symlink is linked to a file which no longer exists, because we moved it. Create a symbolic link to the new location of the library: ln -sf ../../lib/libz.so.1 /usr/lib/libz.so Zlib does not install its manual page. Issue the following command to install this documentation: cp zlib.3 /usr/share/man/man3