There was a tool I used years ago that would build rpm's from makefile-based build files. Basically, you would do './configure && make && [app name] make install' and it would then run a dummy 'make install', monitor syscalls that did copying etc. and make an rpm from that. That was easy enough to make packages from tarballs. Anything more complicated (like, having to actually know the package file formats) - forget it.

Anyone know the name of this tool? It was unmaintained for a long time already when I stopped using Linux, and that was 10 years ago.

It was probably checkinstall, today I'd really recommend learning how to make an .rpm or .deb the proper way, it's really not that hard. My experience with debian packaging is fairly limited, but the typical rpmspec for a autotools based build is as simple as (minus package metadata because that's kinda noisy):

  %prep
  %setup -q


  %build
  %configure
  make %{?_smp_mflags}


  %install
  make install DESTDIR=%{buildroot}

  %files
  /usr/*

Boom, there you go, build it with rpmbuild or mock and you're done. Debian control files are just Makefiles with a bunch of magic targets that get called, and debhelper 99% of the time will automatically figure out what you are trying to package (autotools, python, ruby, java, node, etc) and build/install/package it correctly for you so that most debian/control files are one or two lines.

You only even need to go the debhelper route if you're intending your package to go upstream into Debian or Ubuntu itself. You can go a looooong way with just `DEBIAN/control` and `dpkg-deb --build`.

I do remember using that tool to publish the very first aMule packages for Debian. I think it was called watchinstall.

It's called `checkinstall`: https://wiki.debian.org/CheckInstall

Yeah that's the one, seems it's maintained after all. It was/is awesome.

I used something similar named epkg, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Encap_Package_Management_Syste....