Linux Journal takes a look at Checkinstall, a utility that builds a .deb, .rpm or Slackware package from a third party source code tarball.

Checkinstall is a utility that builds a .deb, .rpm or Slackware package from a third party source code tarball. This allows you to introduce such third party software using the standard package management features of your distribution.

  Using Checkinstall To Build Packages From Source