Using GNU Configure:

  The Free Software Foundation (FSF) is responsible for providing the
  license that protects many of the highest quality tools available
  for UNIX operating systems.  Examples include emacs, most of the
  shells, most of the window managers, and so on.  GNU software is
  typically distributed in source code, tarred, and gziped.  tar(1)
  is an application that converts a set of files and/or directories
  into one file for easy transport over a network.  gzip(1) is a
  compression program that can make files smaller.  Both are readily
  available for most UNIX operating systems.

  Typically, you will download a .tar.gz file (or sometimes .tgz) and
  unpack it:

    gzip -d foo-1.2.tar.gz
    tar xf foo-1.2.tar

  then, you will run the configuration script (its always called "configure")
  provided with the software:

    cd foo-1.2
    ./configure --help

  with the --help option, noting any configuration options that you
  might want to set.

  Next, you run the configure script with the options that you decided
  were appropriate:

    ./configure --prefix=/opt/foo/foo-1.2

  and then use the generated Makefile:

    make

  and upon successful compilation, you install the software:

    make install

  I have created a sample package for experimentation.  See the index.html
  file for this class.