Re: Re: [Automake] Making a Distribution

[Ossama Othman]

Hi Time,

On Wed, Sep 20, 2000 at 11:04:21AM -0500, Tom Browder wrote:
> Pavel, thanks for timely response.
> 
> I'm brand new to using automake/autoconf, and I'm using it to package a 
> commercial
> distribution of my company's product for a client.  I need the package to 
> work on
> both a Linux/GNU as well as an SGI/IRIX system.  When I test the distribution 
> on the SGI,
> the ./configure tries to use the *.am files and I get all kinds of dependency 
> problems, and
> I don't think my client will have automake or autoconf.  Shouldn't configure 
> NOT require
> (nor even try to use) autoconf or automake?  If not, why are the files 
> automatically packaged
> with the distribution?

Your client does not need to have autoconf or automake installed since
autoconf- and automake-aware packages are supposed to be
self-contained.  Once you do a "make dist" ("dist" target is supplied
by automake), your package should be completely decoupled from any
external packaging tools such as autoconf and automake.  All your
client needs to have is a Bourne shell compatible shell, and the make
utility, in addition to whatever is needed to build your package.

What does your AC_OUTPUT look like?  Your configure script should not
be attempting to use the `.am' files at all.  It should be using the
`Makefile.in' files generated by automake as input.  From those `.in'
files, the configure script will generate Makefiles, etc.  Those `.in'
files automatically get packaged with your distribution when you
invoke "make dist."

HTH,
-Ossama
-- 
Ossama Othman <address@hidden>
Distributed Object Computing Laboratory, Univ. of California at Irvine
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