Re: Unable to build amhello package from scratch on Debian

[Abhinav Singh]

Hi John,

Thanks for the reply.
It turned out that I didn't had automake package on my debian box.
*apt-get install automake *did the trick for me.
I blogged about the same here.
http://abhinavsingh.com/blog/2009/08/getting-started-with-autotools-gnu-build-system-on-debian/
<http://abhinavsingh.com/blog/2009/08/getting-started-with-autotools-gnu-build-system-on-debian/>Might
be useful for starters like me.

Thanks again,
------------------------------------------------------
Abhinav Singh
Bangalore, India
Website: http://abhinavsingh.com
Blog: http://abhinavsingh.com/blog
Twitter: http://twitter.com/imoracle
------------------------------------------------------


On Sun, Aug 2, 2009 at 9:09 AM, John Calcote <address@hidden> wrote:

> Hello Abhinav,
>
> On 8/1/2009 9:04 AM, Abhinav Singh wrote:
>
>> Hi,
>>
>> This is my first time with autotools and I tried following:
>>
>> http://www.gnu.org/software/libtool/manual/automake/Creating-amhello.html#Creating-amhello
>> to get started.
>>
>> However when I issue the:
>> *$bash: autoreconf --install*
>>
>> I get the following error:
>> configure.ac: 4: `automake requires `AM_CONFIG_HEADER', not
>> `AC_CONFIG_HEADER'
>>
>>
>
> Use AC_CONFIG_HEADERS, not AC_CONFIG_HEADER.
>
>  automake: Makefile.am: required file `./NEWS' not found
>> automake: Makefile.am: required file `./AUTHORS' not found
>> automake: Makefile.am: required file `./ChangeLog' not found
>>
>>
>
> Either create empty NEWS, AUTHORS, and ChangeLog files, or else add the
> 'foreign' option to AM_INIT, e.g., AM_INIT([foreign]). The Autotools were
> originally designed for GNU projects, and all GNU projects require these
> text files to exist in the top-level project directory. However, if you give
> the 'foreign' option to AM_INIT, then Automake will be less picky about
> things like this.
>
>  configure.ac: 4: required file `./[config.h].in' not found
>>
>>
>
> This problem will go away when you fix the AC_CONFIG_HEADERS problem.
>
>  Makefile.am:2: invalid variable `dist_doc_DATA'
>>
>>
>
> Look carefully at your top-level Makefile.am file - make sure nothing is
> misspelled or out of place according to the examples provided in the link.
>
>  autoreconf: automake failed with exit status: 1
>>
>> is this a OS specific problem? Can someone help me with this?
>>
>>
>
> Not OS specific - just Autotools. Just as with many software tools, as you
> become more familiar with them, you will begin to understand the nature of
> these problems.
>
> Good Luck!
> John
>