Re: autotools during build
I have some packages which use autotools. I thought it would be good to
compile as much as possible, so it is clear all the sources are correct. That
means including autoconf, of course.
However, linda doesn't agree with that:
W: gfpoken; Package Build-Depends on automake* or autoconf.
This package Build-Depends on automake* or autoconf. This is almost
never a good idea, as the package should run autoconf or automake on
the source tree before the source package is built.
lintian doesn't consider this to be a problem.
My question is: is linda correct and should I not run autoconf from
rules.make? Extrapolating that would mean that compilation is not needed at
this is one of the things where you definitely get different answers,
depending on whom and where you ask ;-)
I agree with Martin that autoconf and automake should not be run from
rules, and that upstream should provide a configure script.
./configure; make; make install is what I expect to do as a user of
a (original upstream) package, and IMHO the need to run autoconf makes the
whole autotools approach questionable; configure *is* the platform
independant configure script, so why ever should I need to create it on my
specific platform?
Best regards,
Andreas
all, if a precompiled version of the program is packaged in the source
tarball. That doesn't seem right to me. So if linda is right, then where is
the limit? Generated files which are included for portability reasons (such as
configure) are ok, but others are not?
Thanks,
Bas
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