[Xastir-Dev] Re: Changes to autoconf/automake files

[Jack Twilley]

>>>>> "Curt" == Curt Mills <Curt> writes:

Chuck> I've been working on this as time permits.  One of the issues
Chuck> that I've run into is having this work on eairlier versions of
Chuck> autotools, particulary autoconf.  The problem lies in the fact
Chuck> that autoconf hasn't kept development pace with automake and
Chuck> automake had to implement functionality that should have been
Chuck> done in the former.  With these newer releases, however, there
Chuck> are a number of conflicts with older releases.

Curt> Stupid question: Does this affect only the people that run the
Curt> autotools (developers), or does it also affect the users that
Curt> just want to run "./configure;make install"?

The change in the raw files only affects those who use the autotools
to build the generated files -- in our case, developers.  The
generated files will work regardless of what autoconf version is
present -- so it's transparent to developers.

Curt> If it only affects the developers, let's throw away the old
Curt> stuff and keep up with the new tools.

Hurrah.  Seconded.

Curt> If it affects the users as well, perhaps we could add a script
Curt> that would check the versions of the tools first, and swap in
Curt> the proper files for that system?  How are other software
Curt> packages handling this same problem?

It's only a problem for those applications that provide ./configure
and the like.  For applications that require rebuilding of ./configure
before running make, the required versions of autoconf and automake
are documented.  Multiple versions coexist (at least on machines I've
used in the past) so it's not a roadblock.

I am personally biased against providing ./configure as it allows all
users to immediately take advantage of changes without requiring
developers to commit extra files.  I also have some minor discomfort
with committing generated files, but that's a religious issue.

Jack.
-- 
Jack Twilley
jmt at twilley dot org
http colon slash slash www dot twilley dot org slash tilde jmt slash
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