Re: ./configure

[Malcolm Tredinnick <malcolm commsecure com au>]

Rich,

On Wed, 2003-08-20 at 14:06, Rich Caloggero wrote:
> I'm getting the following when running configure just about every time, for
> any module:
> 
> *** configuring libglade *** [1/1]
> ./autogen.sh --prefix /opt/gnome2
> You should update your `aclocal.m4' by running aclocal.
> WARNING: Using auxiliary files such as `acconfig.h', `config.h.bot'
> WARNING: and `config.h.top', to define templates for `config.h.in'
> WARNING: is deprecated and discouraged.
> 
> WARNING: Using the third argument of `AC_DEFINE' and
> WARNING: `AC_DEFINE_UNQUOTED' allows to define a template without
> WARNING: `acconfig.h':
> 
> WARNING:   AC_DEFINE([NEED_MAIN], 1,
> WARNING:             [Define if a function `main' is needed.])
> 
> WARNING: More sophisticated templates can also be produced, see the
> WARNING: documentation.

Just ignore these; they are completely harmless. The messages are a
warning to the package maintainer that one day they need to upgrade
their configure.in script to remove some deprecated features. This is a
consequence of a more recent verison of autoconf being used than the
configure.in script was originally designed for.

If you care about the details: In the "old" days, acconfig.h, in
particular, was used to describe any special variables that were being
defined in the package's config.h file. Nowadays, the description (i.e.
the comment that appears before the variable in config.h) is given in
the AC_DEFINE statement in configure.in (as the third argument) and
autoconf complains a bit if you don't follow this method.

A lot of scripts that are used to build various packages are just copied
from other modules when a new module is started. Not everybody has time
or inclination to learn the depths of automake, autoconf, libtool, etc
even when they are maintaining a package (it will periodically drive you
mad). So some bugs and slight messiness gets copied around from file to
file as a result.

A few of us independently keep thinking that GNOME 2.6 might be the time
to do a systematic cleanup of all the build stuff (e.g. move to a single
automake version, clean up messages like the above, etc). It is a *huge*
job, so we need to be very careful and diplomatic about doing it. For
now, although I can understand the messages being annoying, particularly
if you are using a screen-reader to monitor the build, really just
ignore them.

I hope that clarifies things, rather than just confusing the issue
further.

Cheers,
Malcolm