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automake supports three kinds of directory hierarchy:
‘flat’, ‘shallow’, and ‘deep’.
A flat package is one in which all the files are in a single
directory. The Makefile.am for such a package by definition
lacks a SUBDIRS macro. An example of such a package is
termutils.
A deep package is one in which all the source lies in
subdirectories; the top level directory contains mainly configuration
information. GNU cpio is a good example of such a package, as is
GNU tar. The top level Makefile.am for a deep package
will contain a SUBDIRS macro, but no other macros to define
objects which are built.
A shallow package is one in which the primary source resides in
the top-level directory, while various parts (typically libraries)
reside in subdirectories. Automake is one such package (as is GNU
make, which does not currently use automake).