Always -prefix=/usr?
 

I can't help noticing that most software tells you to use the simple:
Whereas BLFS, of course, goes with:
I'm about to venture into the unknown by installing a few bits & pieces that aren't in the BLFS book, such as FVWM. So, are there any particular instances where I shouldn't prefix the config step when it's a standard 3-step install? Or can I happily prefix everything I'm ever likely to install?

there are lots of instances where you might need to use other prefix. when you want to run the ./configure append --help to it. this will give you all the options that you might want to change.

a good example of this is mplayer, it doesnt install the gui by default you have to append --with-glx (or something).

well, both books LFS/BLFS say it's "your distro, your rules"
BLFS just gives you a wide varitey of options to choose from.
putting everything in --prefix=/usr just helps to keep things organized
and keep the main "system" files clean..........
you can always use --prefix=/opt/usr if you want further organize
your own programs.......

It keeps things simple if you install everything in /usr. If you install stuff elsewhere you then have to add that to /etc/ld.so.conf and extend your $PATH and $PKG_CONFIG_PATH to include the new files. It all gets too confusing for my little brain. Keep it simple, works for me.

Ah! Excellent. I didn't know about that one. Much obliged!

Absolutely. The post was because I want everything in /usr, just wasn't sure if it would always be possible. By the looks of it, the --help screen should alert me if I can't, so that's all I need to know - I can happily chuck everything in /usr.

Thanks for all the feedback!

From the horses mouth (or Beek?... sorry):

http://www.linuxfromscratch.org/blfs.../position.html

EDIT: FWIW I use /usr in general, /opt for anything precompiled - Firefox, Open Office, Acrobat Reader and Java (lazy I know) - and /usr/local for testing before I put it into /usr.