hi,
i was following the instructions to make packages by 'make DESTDIR=... install'. i figured since i used make install, not copying the file manually, the permissions should be ok. i also briefly checked the permissions of the files before calling makepkg.
however, after installing the package, i (normal user) lost (i think) all permissions. funny thing is, i switched to another virtual console/terminal (what do you call those that you can switch using ALT and the function keys anyways?), and tried to log in. i entered username and password, then it said something like "cannot cd to /home/rgiggs" and then i was kiced out immediately.
strange how one seemingly correctly configured package (it was xfce 4.0.6 by the way) could change the permissions for (perhaps) all other files/executables and lock me out entirely.
i reinstalled slackware, figuring the system was so screwed that it'd be faster to reinstall it clean.
any insight would be helpful.
thanks.

It is better to be root to make a package, and it is also better to choose a working directory
in /tmp. Be very carefull when doing a package, it is easy to make a confusion with the
package and the system paths, like ./etc and /etc