Re: troubles with autotools

[Stefano Lattarini]

Hi Laura.  Below are my two tiny cents, I hope you'll find them
useful anyway ...

On Thursday 10 February 2011, laura la wrote:
> So I google "autotools tutorial". And of course I end up here
> http://www.gnu.org/software/autoconf/manual/autoconf.html (autoconf
> link in the first google link:
>
> http://www.lrde.epita.fr/~adl/autotools.html.
>
Do yourself a favor and read this excellent introduction.  It will
take you some time, true, but it will probably also help you understand
what's going on behind the autotools scene; and IMHO you *need* to
understand quite in detail the conceptual underpinnings and operational
details of the autotools in order to work with them.  Otherwise
bitterness and pain and woes will await you every time you have to
tweak an autotools-based build system (been there, done that, it's
not pleasant).

> Or any "beginner' tutorial I find deals with starting from scratch
> with a helloworld.c program. The patience and time I should spend with
> that!
>
IMVHO that time and patience would be well invested if you're going
to have to work with an autotools-based build system.  Especially if
the "tutorial" in question is the one you linked above. i.e.
 <http://www.lrde.epita.fr/~adl/autotools.html>

> I already have a project with those files! I need to know every
> option I have for each file and their meaning, so I can look at the
> files I already have, more or less understand them and add what I
> need.
>
Point is, the autotools are unfortunately quite complex and intricated,
so IMHO you really need to understand their design and philosophy
in order to work with them, I'm not saying proficently, but simply
correctly.

> And while looking at
> http://www.gnu.org/software/autoconf/manual/autoconf.html that's where
> we give up. I mean, just look at that manual.
>
Yes, that is a great reference manual, but I agree that it's completely
unsuited as a ground-up introduction for anyone (IMHO even experienced
programmers) which is unfamiliar with autoconf.

> [CUT]

HTH,
  Stefano