Re: autotools gives autopain

[Tom von Schwerdtner <tomvons gmail com>]

On 12/16/05, Andy Tai <lichengtai gmail com> wrote:
> Interesting... this looks like a solution looking for a problem.  There is
> no problem the autotools present to GNOME that could not be solved.  All the
> weaknesses you listed about autotools clearly are not issues for GNOME
> developers, or else GNOME won't be where it is today.

Another side of the same coin, how much further along would GNOME be
if we weren't chained to autotools?

Autotooling a new project or adjusting autofoo in an existing project
is a serious pain and requires a fair amount of research and head
banging if you can't enlist the help of  "someone who knows".  If we
want to encourage people to contribute to gnome and to write new
software for gnome we should put some attention into lowering the
barriers of entry and simplifying the development process.  Scons may
not be the answer, but it's a topic that needs discussion.

Another point that I think is important but I haven't seen mentioned
is how easy (or difficult) it might be to integrate whatever tools we
use into an IDE (be it anjuta, monodevelop or whatever else).

Regards,
Tom