Re: optional features and AC_ARG_WITH

[Stepan Kasal]

Hi,

On Sat, Feb 05, 2005 at 01:01:03AM +0100, Gregorio Guidi wrote:
> I think the 'standard' way to use AC_ARG_WITH (from the packager's point of 
> view) in a case such as the acl one, should be like this:
> If the user gave --without-acl, disable acl support

this is usual practice, there is not much need to emphasize it.

> without checking if it's available on the system.

Sound nice, but there might be some technical problem.  (I'll post a separate
mail in a minute.)  For now, don't mention this.

> If the user gave --with-acl, check if acl is available on the system and 
> enable it; if acl cannot be found on the system, fail with an error (because 
> the user explicitely requested acl support).

Yes, that needs to be emphasized.

> If the user didn't give --with-acl or --without-acl, check for acl and enable 
> it if it's availabe.

Perhaps the package author thinks the acl support is not stable enough.
So we cannot require this, the author can change any default they want.

Have a nice day,
        Stepan