$ wget https://ftp.gnu.org/pub/gnu/m4/m4-1.4.18.tar.gz 
$ tar xvf m4-1.4.18.tar.gz 
$ cd m4-1.4.18
$ mkdir build
$ cd build
$ ../configure --prefix=/opt/m4/1.4.18
$ make
$ make install

$ export PATH=/opt/m4/1.4.18/bin:${PATH}

$ bash m4_installer.sh /opt/m4 1.4/18

m4_installer.sh

#!/bin/bash

if [ $# -ne 2 ];
then
    echo "Invalid argument"
    echo "arg1 : /path/to/install/"
    echo "arg2 : version"
    exit 1
fi

#############################################################
inst_ver=$2
inst_target=$1/${inst_ver}
arch_file="m4-"${inst_ver}".tar.gz"
target_web="https://ftp.gnu.org/pub/gnu/m4/"${arch_file}
working_dir=$(cd $(dirname $0); pwd)/m4-${inst_ver}
#############################################################
if [ -d ${inst_target} ];
then
    echo "${inst_target} is already exist"
    exit 0
fi

mkdir -p ${inst_target}
if [ $? -ne 0 ];
then
    echo "You do not have write permission on "${inst_target}"."
    echo "Scipt is aborted."
    exit 1
fi

rm -rf ${arch_file} ${working_dir}

wget ${target_web}
if [ $? -ne 0 ];
then
    echo "command is failed"
    echo "wget ${target_web}"
    exit 1
fi
mkdir ${working_dir}
tar xvf ${arch_file} -C ${working_dir} --strip-components 1
cd ${working_dir}
mkdir -p build
cd build
../configure --prefix=${inst_target}
make
make install