In order to install and use KSpread you must have:
A functioning Linux system with the X windowing system configured.
The K Desktop Environment 2.0 (KDE 2.0). KSpread will NOT function with older versions of KDE. Information on obtaining and installing KDE 2.0 can be found at: http://www.kde.org.
Permission to install software on your computer. If you are on a stand alone system, this will not be a problem. If, however, you are using a networked computer, check with your administrator.
If you plan on compiling KOffice from source code you will also need:
Automake 1.4 or newer. This can be downloaded from: ftp://ftp.gnu.org/pub/gnu/automake/
Autoconf 2.13 or later. This can be downloaded from: ftp://ftp.gnu.org/pub/gnu/autoconf/
A C++ compiler which supports exceptions (preferably egcs 1.1.x). This can be downloaded from http://egcs.cygnus.com/
Troll Tech's QT 2.1 development packages. These can be downloaded from ftp://ftp.troll.no/
Once your system meets these requirements, you than need to decide whether you want to install from the source code, or premade compiled packages.
If you want to obtain the most current binary version of KOffice, you can find more information at Getting Binary Packages.
If pre-compiled binaries are not available for your system, you can download the source code and compile it yourself. Instructions on where to obtain the current source code and what to do with the source code once you have it, can be found under Getting the source code.