[article] trimming down autoconf's configure scripts by using pkg-config

[Rogelio Serrano]

On 3/24/06, Daniel Stone <daniel at freedesktop.org> wrote:
> On Fri, Mar 24, 2006 at 01:09:07PM +0800, Rogelio Serrano wrote:
> > I think its better to improve on autoconf. Like splitting the config.h
> > file into smaller pieces.
>
> Like we do in xserver/xorg?

Autoconf is more like IFFE then. Makes sense for big projects like
xorg where updating a single define in a single global config file can
trigger a rebuild of the entire project. Nice for parallel and
multiarch builds too.

>
> > And then just probing for a particular
> > feature without any reference to machine-arch-platform at all.
>
> Which is the entire rationale behind autoconf (feature tests, not
> platform tests)?
>

Why is it sometimes configure says machine-arch-paltform is not recognised?

> > And
> > then just use some kind of language more protable than shell script.
>
> What?

More portable than the humongous shell script named configure. Maybe a
declarative language that is easier to work with when it breaks while
porting to other platforms. M4 gives me migraines. And I dont have
perl on my system. And i dont understand libtool at all.

I can actually live with a very simple c program that can probe for a
particular feature. I have even tried a builder that comes as c source
code that you build first. You dont even need make at all.

IMHO a set of test C source files built and run to generate config
data will be the most portable solution. It will only test for what a
package needs instead of guessing what will be needed beforehand and
it will not be confused by quirks in a system.

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