Re: configure dependencies, and version.texi dependencies (PR/358).

[Akim Demaille]

[Resent, since yesterday my mail was cut by someone who calls himself
a sysadm.]

| >>> "Akim" == Akim Demaille <address@hidden> writes:
| [...]
| 
|  Akim> what of includes *outside* the package?  People can do
|  Akim> that (of course, it's wrong), 
| 
| So that seems good if we reveal this sort of bugs...

I agree.

|  Akim> and worse yet: BSD M4 does not have frozen files, so they
|  Akim> parse autoconf.m4, not autoconf.m4f, so your include
|  Akim> pattern will also get all the autoconf.m4 files.
| 
| Ouch.  
| (BTW I'm surprized that BSD m4 is supported, I thought only GNU's was.)

It is not ``supported'', but Marc Espie fought hard to remove GNU M4
from his BSD machine and as a result, upgraded BSD M4 to become GNU
compatible.  Except for frozen files, but including... the traces!

As a result, they ship a modified Autoconf which no longer requires
GNU M4.

| Is there any way Automake can filter user files from Autoconf's files?

Hm.

So maybe we want to introduce AC_INCLUDE and trace the latter.

OTOH, that's *their* problem.  Not ours.

| Is it enough if Automakes ignore all `m4_include' traces up to the
| first occurrence which is either in aclocal.m4 or configure.(in|ac)?
| (This assumes Autoconf won't try to m4_include something conditionally.)

Which is probably an assumption we can't agree on.

| Or any way Autoconf could hide its includes from `--trace m4_include'?

Or maybe you just want to filter out everything that has an absolute
file name.