[orodley]

Many implicit rules make use of variables, which you can change as you see fit. For example, creating an object file from a C file will do something like "$(CC) $(CFLAGS) $< -o $@". You can change CC to change the compiler used, and add stuff to CFLAGS to add compiler options, all without touching the rule itself.

Other than that there's not much configuration, but the predefined rules are usually quite simple, so it's pretty easy to just write your own implicit rules if the predefined ones don't suit your needs.