Files:
/usr/local/lib/libreadline.a
/usr/local/include/readline/*
/usr/local/info/{readline.info.gz, history.info.gz}
/usr/local/man/man3/readline.3.gz
Sources obtainable at:
http://www.ncftp.com/dowload
./configure and make as usual. However, the Makefile does contain a typo, which will cause an error in the make install stage. This can be ignored. Now go to the doc subdirectory, and compress the files readline.info, history.info, and readline.3. Then install the man page and the info pages manually. Remove the file /usr/local/lib/libreadline.old.
This library also comes as part of the bash distribution. Make bash,
and as a side effect you will also make this library. If you want to
install this way, then run make -n install in the lib/readline subdirectory to see what it wants to install, and then
copy to the place where you want it.