--- lshw/src/core/Makefile
+++ lshw/src/core/Makefile
@@ -1,9 +1,9 @@
 PACKAGENAME?=lshw
 
-CXX=c++
+CXX?=c++
 INCLUDES=
 DEFINES=-DPREFIX=\"$(PREFIX)\" -DSBINDIR=\"$(SBINDIR)\" -DMANDIR=\"$(MANDIR)\" -DDATADIR=\"$(DATADIR)\"
-CXXFLAGS=-g -Wall $(INCLUDES) $(DEFINES) $(RPM_OPT_FLAGS)
+CXXFLAGS ?= -g
+CXXFLAGS += -Wall $(INCLUDES) $(DEFINES) $(RPM_OPT_FLAGS)
-LDFLAGS=
 LDSTATIC=
 LIBS=
--- lshw/src/gui/Makefile
+++ lshw/src/gui/Makefile
@@ -7,11 +7,11 @@
 DEFINES=-DPREFIX=\"$(PREFIX)\" -DSBINDIR=\"$(SBINDIR)\" -DMANDIR=\"$(MANDIR)\" -DDATADIR=\"$(DATADIR)\"
 GTKINCLUDES=$(shell pkg-config gtk+-2.0 --cflags)
 INCLUDES=-I../core $(GTKINCLUDES)
-CXXFLAGS=-g -Wall $(INCLUDES) $(DEFINES) $(RPM_OPT_FLAGS)
-CFLAGS=$(CXXFLAGS) $(DEFINES)
+CXXFLAGS ?= -g
+CXXFLAGS += -Wall $(INCLUDES) $(DEFINES) $(RPM_OPT_FLAGS)
+CFLAGS += -Wall $(INCLUDES) $(DEFINES) $(RPM_OPT_FLAGS)
 GTKLIBS=$(shell pkg-config gtk+-2.0 --libs)
 LIBS=-L../core -llshw -lresolv $(GTKLIBS)
-LDFLAGS=
 ifneq ($(shell $(LD) --help 2| grep -- --as-needed), )
 	LDFLAGS+= -Wl,--as-needed
 endif
@@ -34,7 +34,6 @@
 	$(CXX) $(LDFLAGS) -o $@ $^ $(LIBS)
 
 install: all
-	$(STRIP) gtk-$(PACKAGENAME)
 	
 clean:
 	rm -f $(OBJS) gtk-$(PACKAGENAME) gtk-lshw.glade.bak gtk-lshw.gladep.bak interface.c.bak interface.h.bak callbacks.c.bak callbacks.h.bak Makefile.bak
--- lshw/src/Makefile
+++ lshw/src/Makefile
@@ -18,8 +18,10 @@
 CXX?=c++
 INCLUDES=-I./core/
 DEFINES=-DPREFIX=\"$(PREFIX)\" -DSBINDIR=\"$(SBINDIR)\" -DMANDIR=\"$(MANDIR)\" -DDATADIR=\"$(DATADIR)\"
-CXXFLAGS=-g -Wall -g $(INCLUDES) $(DEFINES) $(RPM_OPT_FLAGS)
-LDFLAGS=-L./core/ -g
+CXXFLAGS ?= -g
+CXXFLAGS += -Wall $(INCLUDES) $(DEFINES) $(RPM_OPT_FLAGS)
+LDFLAGS ?= -g
+LDFLAGS += -L./core/
 ifneq ($(shell $(LD) --help 2| grep -- --as-needed), )
 	LDFLAGS+= -Wl,--as-needed
 endif
@@ -49,7 +51,6 @@
 
 $(PACKAGENAME)-static: core core/lib$(PACKAGENAME).a $(PACKAGENAME).o
 	$(CXX) $(LDSTATIC) $(LDFLAGS) -o $@ $(PACKAGENAME).o $(LIBS)
-	$(STRIP) $@
 
 .PHONY: compressed
 compressed: $(PACKAGENAME)-compressed