configure.in is missing but...

[Eriberto Mota <eriberto@debian.org>]

Hi,

In #882538, Helmut pointed that outguess[1] has a configure file[2]
generated by a missing configure.in. He considers that configure, an
interpreted script (shell), has no source code because the following
lines:

# Generated automatically using autoconf version 2.12
[...]
# Any additions from configure.in:
[...]

The script also has a notice:

# This configure script is free software; the Free Software Foundation
# gives unlimited permission to copy, distribute and modify it.

IMHO, the configure script can't be regenerated from a configure.ac or
configure.in but it can be modified to work if it is necessary. It is
similar to traditional configure file, made by hand. I don't see a
real problem here. However, Pabs agrees with Helmut here[3].

I still have doubts about if this situation is a DFSG violation and I
need more opinions.

Thanks a lot in advance.

Regards,

Eriberto

[1] https://tracker.debian.org/pkg/outguess
[2] https://sources.debian.net/src/outguess/1:0.2-8/jpeg-6b-steg/configure/
[3] https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=882538#20