Building from source can become annoying. While i don’t mind running through configure and make to get the packages i want it’s not always the best option. You may want to use this package a lot more than once and on other machines so a deb along with a local repo may be the best choice.
http://stabbyjones.wordpress.com/2008/10/29/create-a-local-deb-repository/
Requirements:
root@debian:~$ apt-get install autotools-dev fakeroot dh-make build-essential
Configure the package
Extract the source folder from your chosen directory.
user@debian:~/files/src$ tar -xvzf pkgname-0.5.5.tar.gz
Change directory to extracted source:
user@debian:~/files/src$ cd pkgname-0.5.5
Make the debian control files:
user@debian:~/files/src/pkgname-0.5.5$ dh_make
Follow the prompts and the control file is created.
Edit the debian/control file and replace the placeholder information.
user@debian:~/files/src/pkgname-0.5.5$ gedit ./src/debian/control
Build the package
Run the following:
user@debian:~/files/src/pkgname-0.5.5# dpkg-buildpackage -D -rfakeroot
You now have a working deb package.
If you have an error try it without the -D. (-D checks build dependencies and conflicts.)