Autotools - Revision history

Effect2: /* Commentary and criticism */ Linkrot

2019-12-21T07:43:08Z

‎Commentary and criticism: Linkrot

Jsummers: /* Links */

2016-12-01T12:27:36Z

‎Links

Jsummers at 20:54, 21 March 2016

2016-03-21T20:54:19Z

Jsummers at 16:38, 19 March 2016

2016-03-19T16:38:09Z

Jsummers: Created page with "{{FormatInfo |formattype=electronic |subcat=Development |extensions={{ext|ac}}, {{ext|am}}, {{ext|in}}, others |released=~1991 }} '''Autotools''' (or '''GNU Autotools'''; also..."

2016-03-19T16:03:52Z

Created page with "{{FormatInfo |formattype=electronic |subcat=Development |extensions={{ext|ac}}, {{ext|am}}, {{ext|in}}, others |released=~1991 }} '''Autotools''' (or '''GNU Autotools'''; also..."

New page

{{FormatInfo
|formattype=electronic
|subcat=Development
|extensions={{ext|ac}}, {{ext|am}}, {{ext|in}}, others
|released=~1991
}}
'''Autotools''' (or '''GNU Autotools'''; also called the '''GNU Build System''') is a collective name for ''autoconf'', ''automake'', and ''libtool'', which together constitute a toolkit used to help create source packages, and compile and install such packages, on a wide variety of Unix-like computer systems.

Autotools is sometimes considered to include additional utilities beyond the "big three" listed above, such as ''pkg-config'' or ''gettext''.

Autotools is frequently criticized for being overly complicated and messy. But its flexibility and portability have proven difficult to replicate, so unfortunately there is often no better option available.

== Discussion ==
Autotools uses [[Bourne shell script|shell scripting]], [[Makefile|make]], [[M4]], [[Perl]]. Most of the Autotools components necessary to build a particular software package from source will be included in that source package; though if the included scripts find a local copy of Autotools, they may decide to use parts of it instead (with consequences that could be good or bad).

== Files ==
Characteristic filenames used by Autotools include the following:
aclocal.m4
AUTHORS
ChangeLog
compile
config.h.in
config.guess
config.sub
configure
configure.ac
COPYING
COPYING.LESSER
COPYING.LIB
depcomp
INSTALL
install-sh
libtool.m4
ltmain.sh
lt*.m4
Makefile.am
Makefile.in
missing
NEWS
README
TODO

== Related formats ==
* [[Bourne shell script]]
* [[M4]]
* [[Makefile]]
* [[Perl]]

== Links ==
* [https://www.gnu.org/software/autoconf/autoconf.html Autoconf]
* [https://www.gnu.org/software/automake/automake.html Automake]
* [https://www.gnu.org/software/libtool/libtool.html GNU Libtool]
* [[Wikipedia: GNU Build System]]
** [[Wikipedia: Autoconf]]
** [[Wikipedia: Automake]]
** [[Wikipedia: GNU Libtool]]
* [https://autotools.io/index.html Autotools Mythbuster]

=== Commentary and criticism ===
* [http://freecode.com/articles/stop-the-autoconf-insanity-why-we-need-a-new-build-system Stop the autoconf insanity! Why we need a new build system.]
* [http://esr.ibiblio.org/?p=1877 Autotools must die (Eric Raymond blog post)]
* [http://www.airs.com/blog/archives/95 The GNU Configure and Build System (Ian Lance Taylor blog post)]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20100729154037/http://varnish-cache.org/docs/phk/autocrap Did you call them ''autocrap'' tools?] (from archive.org)
* [https://blog.flameeyes.eu/2016/02/yes-we-still-needs-autotools Yes we still needs autotools]

[[Category:Archiving]]
[[Category:Source code]]

@@ Line 69: / Line 69: @@
 * [http://www.airs.com/blog/archives/95 The GNU Configure and Build System (Ian Lance Taylor blog post)]
 * [https://web.archive.org/web/20100729154037/http://varnish-cache.org/docs/phk/autocrap Did you call them ''autocrap'' tools?] (from archive.org)
-* [http://voices.canonical.com/jussi.pakkanen/2011/09/13/autotools/ Why GNU Autotools is not my favorite build system]
+* [https://web.archive.org/web/20190605023533/http://voices.canonical.com/jussi.pakkanen/2011/09/13/autotools/ Why GNU Autotools is not my favorite build system]
 * [https://blog.flameeyes.eu/2016/02/yes-we-still-needs-autotools Yes we still needs autotools]
 [[Category:Archiving]]
 [[Category:Source code]]

@@ Line 12: / Line 12: @@
 == Discussion ==
-Autotools uses [[Bourne shell script|shell scripting]], [[Makefile|make]], [[M4]], [[Perl]]. Each source package is expected to include the Autotools components necessary to compile and install it, so Autotool does not have to be installed locally in order to use it for those purposes. However, if the included components find a local copy of Autotools, they may decide to use parts of it instead (with consequences that could be good or bad).
+Autotools uses [[Bourne shell script|shell scripting]], [[Makefile|make]], [[M4]], and [[Perl]]. Each source package is expected to include the Autotools components necessary to compile and install it, so Autotool does not have to be installed locally in order to use it for these purposes. However, if the included components find a local copy of Autotools, they may decide to use parts of it (with consequences that could be good or bad).
 == Files ==
@@ Line 22: / Line 22: @@
   config.h.in
   config.guess
   config.sub
   configure
   configure.ac
   COPYING
   COPYING.LESSER
@@ Line 31: / Line 34: @@
   INSTALL
   install-sh
   libtool.m4
   ltmain.sh
@@ Line 39: / Line 43: @@
   NEWS
   README
   TODO

@@ Line 5: / Line 5: @@
 |released=~1991
 }}
-'''Autotools''' (or '''GNU Autotools'''; also called the '''GNU Build System''') is a collective name for ''autoconf'', ''automake'', and ''libtool'', which together constitute a toolkit used to help create source packages, and compile and install such packages, on a wide variety of Unix-like computer systems.
+'''Autotools''' (or '''GNU Autotools'''; also called the '''GNU Build System''') is a collective name for ''autoconf'', ''automake'', and ''libtool''. Together, they constitute a toolkit used to help create source packages, and compile and install such packages, on a wide variety of Unix-like computer systems.
 Autotools is sometimes considered to include additional utilities beyond the "big three" listed above, such as ''pkg-config'' or ''gettext''.
@@ Line 12: / Line 12: @@
 == Discussion ==
-Autotools uses [[Bourne shell script|shell scripting]], [[Makefile|make]], [[M4]], [[Perl]]. Most of the Autotools components necessary to build a particular software package from source will be included in that source package; though if the included scripts find a local copy of Autotools, they may decide to use parts of it instead (with consequences that could be good or bad).
+Autotools uses [[Bourne shell script|shell scripting]], [[Makefile|make]], [[M4]], [[Perl]]. Each source package is expected to include the Autotools components necessary to compile and install it, so Autotool does not have to be installed locally in order to use it for those purposes. However, if the included components find a local copy of Autotools, they may decide to use parts of it instead (with consequences that could be good or bad).
 == Files ==
@@ Line 56: / Line 56: @@
 ** [[Wikipedia: GNU Libtool]]
 * [https://autotools.io/index.html Autotools Mythbuster]
 === Commentary and criticism ===