Re: Automake 1.6b available and the version numbering issue

[Respond To List Only]

Alexandre;

Just want to steal the soapbox here to point out that "1.6b" is more
difficult for automated systems to deal with than "1.6.2".  Consider the
logic to determine whether 1.4-p4 is greater than 1.4.2 or 1.5.  
> ... works with 1.6.3 but doesn't with 1.6b.  ...

...and how *is* the logic for 1.6b compared to 1.6.3 ?  Is that like
1.(6.2).0 > 1.6.3 ?

Ever consider simple major/minor/point release numbers?  Even Oracle's
old versions such as 6.0.30.1.2 worked with tools to automatically
determine which of two packages is the more recent.

Allan


Alexandre Duret-Lutz wrote:
> 
> Here is a snapshot of the current development version of Automake,
> in case you want to get a grasp of what Automake 1.7 will look like.
> The NEWS entry is appended.
> 
> If you have some time, please try it on your package and report any
> issue you encounter.  Especially, please shout loud if your package
> works with 1.6.3 but doesn't with 1.6b.  (It'll better for everybody
> if we can fix compatibility issues before the release...)
> 
> You can find this snapshot here:
> 
>     ftp://sources.redhat.com/pub/automake/automake-1.6b.tar.gz
>     ftp://sources.redhat.com/pub/automake/automake-1.6b.tar.bz2
> 
> Soon it will also appear on the sources mirrors.
> 
>     http://sources.redhat.com/mirrors.html
> 
> Please report bugs to <address@hidden>.
> 
>  - Akim, Alexandre, and Tom
> 
> New in 1.6b:
> * Autoconf 2.53b is required.
> * `aclocal' and `automake' will no longer warn about obsolete
>   configure macros.  This is done by `autoconf -Wobsolete'.
> * AM_CONFIG_HEADER, AM_SYS_POSIX_TERMIOS and
>   AM_HEADER_TIOCGWINSZ_NEEDS_SYS_IOCTL are obsolete (although still
>   supported).  You should use AC_CONFIG_HEADERS, AC_SYS_POSIX_TERMIOS,
>   and AC_HEADER_TIOCGWINSZ instead.  `autoupdate' can upgrade
>   `configure.ac' for you.
> * Support for per-program and per-library `_CPPFLAGS'.
> * New `ctags' target (builds CTAGS files).
> * Support for -Wmumble and -Wno-mumble, where mumble is a warning category
>   (see `automake --help' or the manual for a list of them).
> * Honor the WARNINGS environment variable.
> * Omit the call to depcomp when using gcc3: call the compiler directly.
> * A new option, std-options, tests that programs support --help and --version
>   when `make installcheck' is run.  This is enabled by --gnits.
> * Texinfo rules now support the `ps' and `pdf' targets.
> * `make distcheck' will enforce DESTDIR support by attempting
>   a DESTDIR install.
> * `+=' can be used in conditionals, even if the augmented variable
>   was defined for another condition.
> * Use Autoconf's --trace interface to inspect configure.ac and get
>   a more accurate view of it.
> * automake --output-dir is deprecated.
> * Many bug fixes.