Installing to /usr/local is not only simple and convenient—it's also what most build scripts do by default unless you specify otherwise.
For a lot of tools, I find that writing a port can be almost as little work and installing it manually. With the added bonus that the package manager will then track its dependencies and that I can share the port with other users of the distro.
Alpine makes this particularly easy thanks to the simplicity behind its APKBUILD files. BSDs usually have relatively simple recipe format too (although not as simple as APKBUILD or PKGBUILD tbh).
For a lot of tools, I find that writing a port can be almost as little work and installing it manually. With the added bonus that the package manager will then track its dependencies and that I can share the port with other users of the distro.
Alpine makes this particularly easy thanks to the simplicity behind its APKBUILD files. BSDs usually have relatively simple recipe format too (although not as simple as APKBUILD or PKGBUILD tbh).