[gambit-list] Autoconf

Joel J. Adamson jadamson at partners.org
Fri Mar 14 10:08:37 EDT 2008


Adrien Pierard <pierarda at iro.umontreal.ca> writes:

> On Wed, Mar 12, 2008 at 01:05:48PM -0400, Joel J. Adamson wrote :
>> Dear Gambitizers,
>
> Hi,
>
>> Autoconf seems to be the most familiar routine (I mean typing
>> ./configure && make && make install), so it would be good to know how to
>> set up such a distribution.  For example, "make dist" would compile
>> scheme modules in such a way that all the work left is for the C
>> compiler.
>
> It is famous, well spread, but bad.

Can you elaborate?  I'm sure I can find vigorous rancor directed at any
commonly used device if I look on the internet.  What are your opinions?

> The autotools are everything but friendly, and there are other tools
> that can be much better, though they are still seldom used.
>
> Scons, aap, cmake, makepp...

Yes, my experience with scons was how annoying it was to try to install
that in order to build what I really wanted (xmms2).  I'd like to avoid
that as my project serves the dual purpose of introducing people to
free-and-open-source software and providing them with a useful tool.
I'd like to avoid perpetuating any stereotypes, as preposterous as they are.

The whole point of using autoconf would be to use something almost
everybody already has.  Of course, if I could deliver it without people
using anything external, that would be best.

Joel

-- 
Joel J. Adamson
Biostatistician
Pediatric Psychopharmacology Research Unit
Massachusetts General Hospital
Boston, MA  02114
(617) 643-1432
(303) 880-3109
Public key: http://pgp.mit.edu

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