How to maintain compatibility with Automake.

[Peter Rosin]

Hi!

A macro by the name AM_PROG_AR might be on its way into Automake,
and I would like to use it sooner rather than later. But I don't
think it is prudent to require an Automake version which has the
macro. Would something like this be a workable solution in
libtool.m4 (untested, needs adjustments to _LT_CMD_OLD_ARCHIVE
of course)?

m4_ifndef([AM_PROG_AR],

############################################################
# NOTE: A macro with the same interface as this has been   #
#  submitted for inclusion into GNU Automake as            #
#  AM_PROG_AR.  When we require an Automake version which  #
#  has this macro we should remove this macro from here    #
#  and use the Automake macro unconditionally.             #
############################################################
[
m4_defun([AM_PROG_AR],
[AC_CHECK_TOOLS(AR, [ar], false)
: ${AR=ar}
AC_SUBST([AR])dnl
])# AM_PROG_AR
])

Or how are situations like this generally handled?

Cheers,
Peter