> My problem is that if I build the whole system, my smail
> version of sendmail gets overwritten by sendmail and if I don't notice
> it, my mail stops working properly.

Here's how I do it:

/usr/src/${whatever}/makefile [note the small "m" in "makefile"]
is a symlink to /usr/src/Makefile.noinstall.

Makefile.noinstall contains this:

	install:
		@echo "**** not installing anything here"

	.ifnmake install
	.include "Makefile"
	.endif

When you run make, it reads "makefile" in preference to "Makefile".

--apb (Alan Barrett)