[Beowulf] OpenFOAM, Linux & Compilers

[Dmitry Zaletnev]

Dear Sir/Madam!
A few days ago I tried to compile OpenFOAM, I didn't succeed in compiling paraFoam, neiteher I didn't succeed in using ParaView 3.4,
downloaded from official site, in viewing VTK-format data from Open FOAM. Compiler refused finding cmake. Earlier I worked as software tester than a programmer in NT projects. But know I hardly can't understand how compilation in *nix takes place, what is make, cmake, profile, etc. What is *nix executable? I've heard that Gentoo compiles executable each time it is to be run, and what other Linuces? Is here somebody who can briefly tell me about software development under *nix? And about what benefits gives using Sun Studio or Portland Group PGI instead of gcc & gdb, by the way what else do I need to compile and run my first project under *nix? I use Ubuntu 9.04 x64, openSuSE 11.1 x64, Fedora 9 x64, Fedora 11 ppc64 & Solaris 10.

Sincerely,
Dmitry Zaletnev