Re: Can't `make install' Autoconf 2.53b if makeinfo is missing + an OSF make issue

[Paul Eggert]

> From: Alexandre Duret-Lutz <address@hidden>
> 
> 
> The touch error is easy to explain.  The following line in
> Autoconf's doc/Makefile.am
>   MAKEINFO = @MAKEINFO@ --no-split
> causes missing to think makeinfo will create the `--no-split'
> file.  So it runs `touch --no-split' and touch complains.

Are you sure about that diagnosis?  It seems to me that "missing
--run makeinfo --no-split echo install.texi" does this, with $* equal
to "--no-split echo install.texi":

    file=`echo "$*" | sed -n 's/.*-o \([^ ]*\).*/\1/p'`

This should set file to the empty string.
"missing" then invokes this:

    if test -z "$file"; then
      file=`echo "$*" | sed 's/.* \([^ ]*\) *$/\1/'`

This should set file to "install.texi".  Next, "missing" does this:

      file=`sed -n '/address@hidden/ { s/.* \([^ ]*\) *$/\1/; p; q; }' $file`

This should set file to the empty string, since install.texi does not
contain any @setfilename directive.  Finally, "missing" does this:

    fi
    touch $file

This runs plain "touch", with no arguments.


> Why makeinfo is run is more fun.  It seems that because of the
> `.texi:' rule,


To fix this problem, how about if we remove the .texi: rule from
Automake?  The .texi: rule is obsolete.  Nowadays people should be
creating FOO.info from FOO.texi, and they should not be creating plain
FOO without an extension.