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.