Linux/CheckInstall

CheckInstall - https://help.ubuntu.com/community/CheckInstall

Instead of

sudo make install

you will use

sudo checkinstall

When called with no arguments, checkinstall will call "make install". If you need other arguments, they can be supplied:

sudo checkinstall make install_package

The installed package can then also easily be removed via Synaptic or via the terminal:

sudo dpkg -r packagename

Example:

sudo dpkg -r pidgin