If you are interested in writing software for Linux, you will benefit from taking a look at the following URLs that I have hand-selected from the internet. Like you, I was not really satisfied to just running
/.configure make make install
I wanted to be one the guys writing my own software and RPMs and deploy them on a Linux Environment. So obviously there is a reason why came to this page so i just have to wish you good luck and happy programming.
Understanding make and make install
http://www.codecoffee.com/tipsforlinux/articles/27.html
Build your First RPM
http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/library/l-rpm1/
Software Development in the Unix Environment
http://users.ece.utexas.edu/~bevans/talks/software_development/
Cygwin (Tool that allows you to run shell like commands on windows)
http://www.cygwin.com/
Information About C++
http://www2.research.att.com/~bs/C++.html