Make install, but not to default directories?
It depends on the package. If the Makefile is generated by GNU autotools (./configure) you can usually set the target location like so:
./configure --prefix=/somewhere/else/than/usr/localIf the Makefile is not generated by autotools, but distributed along with the software, simply open it up in an editor and change it. The install target directory is probably defined in a variable somewhere.
make DESTDIR=./new/customized/path installThis quick command worked for me for opencv release 3.2.0 installation on Ubuntu 16. DESTDIR path can be relative as well as absolute.
Such redirection can also be useful in case user does not have admin privileges as long as DESTDIR location has right access for the user. e.g /home//