wanna build my own rpms

["Greg Nagy" <greg n freemail c3 hu>]

Hi!

First question: should I? I have Mandrake 6.1. Are redhat rpms ok with this?
Mandrake is supposed to be 99% compatible with RH.

Let's say I'd compile. Is there some straightforward info on how to do this?
I gave up on reading rpm docs, it was too much for me...

What are source rpms (.src.rpm)? Are they like .tar.gz only in rpm format,
or are they (more or less) preconfigured for building .rpm?

Do I build the software first, and then pack it, or is it done for me by
rpm?

What command line options should I concentrate on (when reading the docs,
cause I kinda got lost among these too...)? prefix dirs, optimizig?

It would be great if you could help me out. I still haven't managed to set
up october gnome, and it's almost december... I just don't want to go ahead
and build and install from source, it'd make upgrades a real pain...

tia,
Greg