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

[Miles Bader]

"Rogelio Serrano" <rogelio.serrano at gmail.com> writes:
>> > 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?

Autoconf wants to identify the hardware/os/etc for various reasons, but
for most programs it doesn't actually use that info for very much.
Largely autoconf works by testing features without reference to the
machine type.

> 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.

You have to figure out how to compile and link a simple program
(one of the things configure does)...

> 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.

That's more or less what autoconf does, except that it _generates_ the
"test C source files" using the shell script.

-Miles
-- 
80% of success is just showing up.  --Woody Allen