Compile Software to .deb

One of the more annoying problems with compiling software is that you do not install via .debs and hence cant use synaptic/kpackage/dpkg to easily unistall. The truth is it is very simple to get around this.

First we need to get a new program which will do most of the work for us

apt-get install checkinstall

Then when you go to compile programs instead of running make install, run checkinstall. So a standered compile would now look like this:

<br />
./configure<br />
make<br />
checkinstall<br />

Voila! Then just follow the prompts and it will make the .deb and install it for you. Ensure that you dont have synaptic still open or it will fail (in the case it fails installing, you still have the .deb).