If you got this from cvs you need to have automake installed and run:

~$ cd recordmydesktop           #remeber to cd in the directory of the module
                                #you checked out
~$ sh autogen.sh
~$ ./configure
~$ make
~$ sudo make install

If you got a release tarball, to compile the program you have to go through the regular drill:

~$ gzip -d recordmydesktop-x.y.z.tar.gz
~$ tar -xvf recordmydesktop-x.y.z.tar
~$ cd recordmydesktop-x.y.z
~$ ./configure
~$ make
~$ sudo make install


You will need the development headers(i.e. packages ending with -dev or -devel
depending on the distribution you use) for the following:

X
libICE-dev
libSM-dev
libXext
libXdamage
libXfixes
libogg
libvorbis
libtheora

If you want to compile with ALSA support, you will also
need the libasound headers.If they are not found, OSS
will be used and you must have the sys/soundcard.h header.
To use OSS regardless of whether or not you have the ALSA
headers, you can use the --enable-oss switch during
configuration.



Last, you need the regular headers, plus the ones for pthreads
(both of which you should have if you have compiled anything else before).

Of the above, the most likely to be missing are probably those of libXdamage and libtheora
but any recent linux distribution should offer an easy way to get them.