Re: [PATCH 1/3] maint: rename `libltdl/config' directory to standard `build-aux'.

[Gary V. Vaughan]

Hi Bob,

Thanks for the feedback.

On 1 Nov 2011, at 23:50, Bob Friesenhahn wrote:
> On Tue, 1 Nov 2011, Gary V. Vaughan wrote:
>> This next series of changesets is the beginning of modelling the directory
>> and filenaming conventions of Libtool to match what is done by other
>> prominent GNU projects... this means that gnulib scripts will require less
>> tweaking and configuration, so we can use them in the configuration in which
>> they have been most widely tested and debugged.  Also, it makes everything
>> look more familiar to anyone coming from another GNU project who is hoping
>> to generate some patches for us... and every little thing we can do to reduce
>> friction in that process is a net win as far as I am concerned.
> 
> I should not have to remind that GNU libtool is usually "embedded" to become 
> part of other packages and some have become more intimate with libtool (as 
> documented) in order to improve build times and reduce redundant waste.  For 
> packages (such as mine), the libltdl 'config' directory is treated as a well 
> defined public interface which is referenced by (and shared by) exisiting 
> package configure scripts. For example, this is how the configure.ac refers 
> to it in my package:
> 
> # Directory where autotools helper scripts lives.
> AC_CONFIG_AUX_DIR([ltdl/config])
> 
> Changing from 'config' to 'build-aux' will require existing configure.ac 
> files to change.
> 
> Did you consider this existing use while developing the plan to rename this 
> often-shared directory?

Yes I did, and it doesn't seem at all onerous to me if I have gone to all the
trouble of upgrading libtool and re-bootstrapping my project with it to also
amend one line in configure.ac.  As it stands, libtoolize will issue an upgrade
recommendation, and if you ignore that, nothing will actually break, you will
just get duplicate copies of libltdl's build-aux files (compile, config.guess,
config.sub, depcomp, install-sh, ltmain.sh and missing) alongside your parent
project's files in ltdl/config.

However, what did you think of my plan to adopt a gnulib inspired cruft
removal warning and tidy up process (the second paragraph in this post:
http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/libtool-patches/2011-11/msg00002.html)? If
you don't object, in that vein I'll add code to libtoolize (scheduled for
removal in 2013) which copies $pkgdatadir/build-aux contents to the existing
ltdl/config you've specified in the parent configure.ac AC_CONFIG_AUX_DIR
declaration...

Cheers,
-- 
Gary V. Vaughan (gary AT gnu DOT org)