Re: FYI: libtool.m4 removal problem

[Daniel Reed]

On 2004-12-13T08:12+0100, Ralf Wildenhues wrote:
) Also, I'm entirely unconvinced as to his idea of parallel libtool
) installations.  I can see the value when developing libtool, but
) allowing/encouraging users to do so, I fear, would only increase
) libtool maintenance burden (having to support old releases for
) longer time).

Automake added in-package support for parallel installations a while back
(1.5, then backported to a 1.4 maintenance release), and GNOME has been
relying on that ever since: There are still GNOME components whose build
control files will not work with modern versions of Automake. Automake 1.5
is over 3 years old.

Adding in-package support for parallel installations to be helpful to
projects with wide developer bases may be noble, but doing so comes at a
cost. I will have to continue to maintain Automake 1.4 packages for our
distributions for years to come, fixing bugs and backporting features as
needed to ensure all parts of our distribution continue to build. (If there
is an Automake equivalent to multilib, for example.)

I will also have to maintain and support packages for Automake 1.5, Automake
1.6, Automake 1.7. When I took over Automake, I stopped the policy of
splitting out older versions, so there is no automake18 and there will be no
automake19. I will not be shipping multiple versions of Libtool, either,
which means we will continue shipping only out of branch-1-5 until newer
versions accept the exact syntax used by 1.5 and earlier (which is among the
most-cited reasons GNOME developers have not "modernized" their build
control files: There is no explanation that the "modernization" process
yields any benefit beyond being able to upgrade, and there is no guarantee
that the "modernization" process won't have to be repeated every year).

-- 
Daniel Reed <address@hidden>    http://people.redhat.com/djr/   
http://naim.n.ml.org/
It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most
intelligent, but the one most responsive to change. -- Charles Darwin