The RPM system defines a lot of handy macros so that your spec files can work regardless of where system directories are located. You simply use the macro, such as %_bindir, in place of hard-coded paths. The %_bindir macro, for example, identifies the default directory for binary executables, /usr/bin.
Use these macros wherever possible to avoid hard-coded paths and settings.
RPM includes a host of built-in macros, including the following useful directories:
%_prefix /usr
%_exec_prefix %{_prefix}
%_bindir %{_exec_prefix}/bin
%_sbindir %{_exec_prefix}/sbin
%_libexecdir %{_exec_prefix}/libexec
%_datadir %{_prefix}/share
%_sysconfdir %{_prefix}/etc
%_sharedstatedir %{_prefix}/com
%_localstatedir %{_prefix}/var
%_libdir %{_exec_prefix}/lib
%_includedir %{_prefix}/include
%_oldincludedir /usr/include
%_infodir %{_prefix}/info
%_mandir %{_prefix}/man
The example directories shown above come from the standard RPM macro file, /usr/lib/rpm/macros, instead of the Red Hat-specific file, /usr/lib/rpm/redhat/macros, which holds:
%_prefix /usr
%_sysconfdir /etc
%_localstatedir /var
%_infodir /usr/share/info
%_mandir /usr/share/man
%_initrddir %{_sysconfdir}/rc.d/init.d
%_defaultdocdir %{_usr}/share/doc
