Re: Copyright of composite Makefile.in files

[Ferenc Wagner <wferi@niif.hu>]

Vincent Bernat <bernat@debian.org> writes:

>  ❦ 30 novembre 2015 10:41 +0100, Ferenc Wagner <wferi@niif.hu> :
>
>> Makefile.in files distributed in an upstream tarball often have several
>> copyright notices: the FSF copyleft at the top added by Automake and
>> later those carried over from other macro packages included into
>> Makefile.am (for example: include doxygen.am).  The result is like
>> this:
>
> Usually, autoconf generated files are ignored in debian/copyright.
> That's a "special unwritten" rule. You don't need to mention them, you
> don't need to exclude them from the tarball. It's better to regenerate
> them from source during build time.

This would be a serious improvement indeed, especially if teamed with
all the libtool helpers!  Debian/copyright is a real drag: I feel like
I'm pouring half of the total packaging time into creating this file,
and still wouldn't dare to trust the result.  I know of licensecheck,
but this area really cries for more automation and checking.

But until that: why not write this "special rule" somewhere, and start
using it for good?
-- 
Thanks,
Feri.