When installing source applications is there any preferred directory to install in/to?

I briefly explain the problem I had;

i installed Opera Web Browser using:
./configure
make
make install

into directory /home/[useraccount]/myapps/

Then I deleted dir myapps/ and now I have fragments of opera in my system e.g. in the KDE start menu.
But obviously I cannot run Opera anymore.

Is there are directory where all software should be installed to as a general rule of thumb?

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Mandriva2006FE on P3-1.0GHz/256MB/20GB/400MB Swap

i dont think opera is available as sourcecode, but when i do compile sourcecode that i know to work good i give it a --prefix=/usr but when testing something new that i am not totally sure about i let it go to /usr/local since /usr/local is usually empty i can easily remove it if i dont want it...

./configure --help for more info (generic)

./configure --help=short for info specific to the software you are compiling

Also, if you have a program that doesn't install through an RPM, etc. but through it own installer like Netbeans or the Java JDK in Linux, a good place to install it is in the /opt directory.
What I do about source compilation is I place it in /tmp, compile it from there, install, etc. and then remove it.
I want to start moving them to /usr/local/src or something.

actually /usr/local/src is the general convention for user programs (source). any application will generally try to install their files in certain location so that they are easily available for desktop managers. for example, your app icons will most probably go in /usr/share/pixmaps your executables would go in /usr/local/bin and like wise. many programs let you control this by asking you where to install these files at installation (generally thru' scripts).also the ./configure --prefix option works for the purpose of letting you decide where to put the install.