[Xastir] New configure.ac script - RPM upgrades

[Chuck Byam]

On Fri, 2003-02-14 at 12:30, Olivier Calle wrote:
> > Curt Mills, WE7U wrote:
> > > I learned this in my reading lately:  There are two different trains
> > > of thought w.r.t. the autotools stuff.  1) Distribute the derived
> > > files so that the users just have to type "configure;make;make
> > > install", or 2) Distribute the configure.ac file only and have the
> > > users create the derived files themselves.
> > >
> > > Xastir used to be in camp 1).  Now we're in camp 2).  Time will tell
> > > if this works out better for us.
> 
> On Fri, 14 Feb 2003, Gerry Creager N5JXS wrote:
> > Unless you can give me a real good reason, I'm still in camp 1.
> 
> I agree.  When Curt described some of this autoconf stuff, it sounded like
> we would still be in camp 1, but now we aren't?
> 
> Distributing a configure file is what I see in all the source packages I
> have ever used that had autoconf stuff.  We should not change that.
> Xastir should build (for the users) with the familiar sequence:
> ./configure
> make
> make install
> 
> What we do in CVS could have more requirements than that, though, but not
> in source releases that regular users will try.
> 
> Wow, that's more than I've written to the list in a while, time for a
> breather... ;-)

First a little background.  The reason behind the new configure scripts
were incompatibilities with the new [stable] release autotools (they
would have had to be changed anyway); consolidating the various
configure includes into one file; and finally, many of the configure
routines where done to overcome limitations or outright bugs in "older"
versions of autotools.

When a distribution tarball is generated (for release or cvs snapshot),
the configure routine will be built and included and all this other
bootstrapping and the such is not needed by the end user.  The old
configure/make/make install is all that will need to be done.  For those
who live on the edge and like to play in the cvs tree, your going to
have to have available the necessary software to build the application.

For those of us that have been around xastir for a while know, building
the app has come a long way and much of the pain of getting it to
compile on the various platforms is gone.  Much of the layout of the new
scripts have been kicked around for sometime and the goal is to make
building the application as painless as possible for the enduser.  To
that end, any problems with this process are appreciated and
encouraged.  While I personally have no desire to build xastir for
Windows or OSX, I do appreciate the efforts of those who have made it
work and supplied suggestions to help move xastir to a wider audience.

-- 
Chuck Byam <cbyam at virginia.edu>