You'll need to install some dependencies. Off the top of my head, you'll need bison, flex, g++ (well, some C++ compiler), alsa dev files, and libsound. I'm assuming this is your Linux box, and not a shared box where you have an account, correct? If so, the easiest thing to do is install those packages I mentioned using your Linux distribution's package manager. Once you've done that, try "make linux-alsa" again. If you're on Debian let me know an I can send you a list of the packages you need to apt-get.
You might need to compile software depending on the language in which the program is written. Applications which require compiling are usually written in C and C++. If this is the case, you will need to install a compiler gcc which can be obtained by installing the build-essential package. Normally, you can do this by typing the following in a terminal:
sudo apt-get install build-essential
and in order to run the configure and autogen.sh files that come with many programs:
sudo apt-get install automake
Finally, you will need CheckInstall to safely insert your program in your system:
sudo apt-get install checkinstall..."
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This worked on some other frustrating installations, will try it on chuck when time/energy permits.
Forrest Curo
San Diego