The Last Octet

Link: http://techreport.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=63277&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&start=30#p899188

Was reading the forums over at the The Tech Report and read one of the best explanations of make I'd ever run across:

Forge say, "make is a framework for compiling projects. Basically there's a file, informationally named the makefile, which contains the big plan. When you run make configure, it adjusts a bunch of subtle (and sometimes not subtle) variables to align the project with your OS, CPU arch, version of make/gcc/whatall. After that you run make (no arg) and it compiles the main body of the project. Sometimes you'll have 'accessory' makes, which compile modules or the GUI frontend, but these are fairly rare. Make install goes through and copies the compiled binaries and libs out to where they'll run from, leaving the raw source alone. make clean will delete any compiled stuff out of the source tree, readying it for a different config/compile run.

There are many others as well. It's always a good idea to crack open any unfamiliar makefiles and take a look before make'ing against them."