The Hurd and autoconf (Was problem making severboot)

[Bill White <bill.white@griggsinst.com>]

I have had consistent trouble getting autoconf to work on the Hurd.
When I built ssh and ntp4 both the autoconf program created a truncated
configure file.  It was truncated around the line where the cache is
created, and I recall a comment along the lines "According to mumble1
stardent needs mumble2".  I don't recall more relevant details about
the error message.  The error message is only an indicator.  The error
was in m4 somehow.

In trying to diagnose this problem I went through these steps.  This is
from memory of an exhausted, post-midnight, post-work-then-getting-the-
children-to-bed session from two weeks ago, so some details are lost
along with my lost brain cells.
o I got and installed the most recent autoconf and automake packages, 
  though dpkg thought I already had them.
o I read through the autoconf script, and changed it so that it did
  not use precompiled include files.
o I figured out which input file was generating the last output, and
  what the next output should be.  I isolated the place where the
  output stopped.  I don't recall what the details were here, but I
  remember thinking there was nothing peculiar happening there.  I
  was particularly looking for diversions gone awry, but I don't
  remember seeing them.
o I verified that the same shell scripts in Linux generate sensible,
  non-truncated configuration files.
o I whined about this in private email to somebody, who told me he
  sees it sometimes too, and blames m4.

In general, these days I run autoconf on my linux machine, and use the
resulting configuration file to configure the Hurd.  My personal
interest is not in debugging m4 problems, though someone certainly
should look into it.  Since I have a workaround I am letting it go
for later.

----------------------
Bill White <bill.white@griggsinst.com>
"There's no art to find the mind's construction in the ASCII."
Macbeth, Act I scene 1 (first draft).