title: Directory for files generated by Make during installation from configure, make and make install
body: <p>Just assume we are installing some libraries from its source distributed by the way GNU promoted. When using "./configure --prefix" to specify where to install. </p>
  
  <p>(1) does <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Make_(software)" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Make</a> generate the binaries under the current directory? Does Make install then copies them from the current directory (which is from where Make is run) to $prefix? If the answers are yes, I have two questions, each for different cases.</p>
  
  <p>(2) when the current directory and $prefix are not the same, can I remove all the files generated by Make under current directories to save some space?</p>
  
  <p>(3) when the current directory and $prefix are the same, will <code>make install</code> do nothing or copy the files to themselves? Can I just skip the <code>make install</code> step?</p>