checkinstall

Checkinstall is a nice tool to create simple .deb-packages that you can use in your local network (e.g. if you have to install the same piece of software on multiple computers running Debian). It lets you compile and install software from the sources like before, but with the difference that you end up with a simple Debian package which also means that you can easily uninstall the software you just compiled by running dpkg -r!

Install Checkinstall It is as easy as 1-2-3:
apt-get install checkinstall
If your system tells you that it does not know a package called checkinstall then add the following line to /etc/apt/sources.list:
deb http://www.backports.org/debian/ woody checkinstall
and run
apt-get update
Then try again to install checkinstall.