Re: [Andrew Suffield <address@hidden>] Bug#157887: autoconf: various imperfectly formed functions in c.m4

[Paul Eggert]

> From: Andrew Suffield <address@hidden>
> Date: Tue, 24 Sep 2002 23:42:16 +0100
> 
> I don't see why it's difficult.

It's not that hard to fix one particular case.  However a real fix
will require going through every C-language test case in Autoconf.

> #ifdef __STDC__ should handle most cases.

Most cases yes, but not enough to suffice for production code.

A better fix is to use AC_C_PROTOTYPES; it's designed for this
purpose.  But AC_C_PROTOTYPES futzes with $CC in order to enable
prototypes if available, and there are some chicken-and-egg problems
here since it assumes we've already found a C compiler and yet now we
want to use this test to find a C compiler.

I'm not saying that the problem can't be fixed, only that the fix
isn't trivial.  Someone with experience in ancient compiers needs to
find time to write it up and test it on some old gear.