Re: libtool generated by "GNU $PACKAGE"

[Eric Blake]

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1

According to Ralf Wildenhues on 3/4/2008 2:14 PM:
| Fixed with the patch below.  I don't care much that, in the Libtool
| package itself, the will result in a libtool script with the line
| # Generated automatically by config.status (libtool 1.2600 2008/03/02
02:19:16) 2.3a
|
| instead of GNU libtool.

Hmm.  While this avoids the bug, I'm not sure if it was the best fix.

|  # `$ECHO "$ofile" | sed 's%^.*/%%'` - Provide generalized
library-building support services.
| -# Generated automatically by $as_me (GNU $PACKAGE$TIMESTAMP) $VERSION
| +# Generated automatically by $as_me ($PACKAGE$TIMESTAMP) $VERSION

TIMESTAMP is a libtool invention, and is not documented in autoconf or
automake as a typical variable.  At one point, M4 also tried using it, by
parsing the CVS revision from ChangeLog, but ever since m4 switched to
git, that aspect is broken (besides, I like what autoconf has achieved
with intra-release versioning via the git-version-gen script).  Can we
expect reasonable semantics from TIMESTAMP in all other libtoolized
packages, if we don't document it?  Meanwhile, is there one of the
Autoconf-provided variables, such as PACKAGE_NAME, which might fit better
(and in the case of libtool, preserve the name 'GNU libtool')?

- --
Don't work too hard, make some time for fun as well!

Eric Blake             address@hidden
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
Version: GnuPG v1.4.5 (Cygwin)
Comment: Public key at home.comcast.net/~ericblake/eblake.gpg
Comment: Using GnuPG with Mozilla - http://enigmail.mozdev.org

iD8DBQFHzhNz84KuGfSFAYARAjXyAKCG0gUxWNp20+nzPnF4P4rlCxkPdwCeIQjg
kcOLg6gqYcxkKnVDWqS3iU0=
=m0KX
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----