I have provided simple instructions for setting up Suricata on an Ubuntu laptop at:
http://doc.emergingthreats.net/bin/view/Main/SuricataUbuntuSetup
You can use this text file to copy and paste your way to a successful setup:
http://doc.emergingthreats.net/pub/Main/SuricataUbuntuSetup/Suricata_Ubuntu_Laptop_Setup.txt
You can learn more about Suricata at the Open Information Security Foundation: http://www.openinfosecfoundation.org/
Many thanks are due to the entire Suricata team for delivering the next generation intrusion prevention system!