aclocal macro question

[Grant Likely <grantlikely home com>]

I've got an application which I'm trying to setup to use
autoconf/automake for building, but I'm having trouble figuring out how
to use the gnome aclocal macros.  I have a number of questions.

1.  I've noticed that all of the gnome packages contain a macros
directory.  Why does every package seem to include the same macros
instead of them being installed by the appropriate package?

2.  When I'm installing from tarballs, I had to first link
/usr/share/aclocal to /opt/gnome/share/aclocal.  Is there anyway for me
to make aclocal recognize other share/aclocal directories?
 
3.  What files/directories do I need to duplicate in my application
build tree to get automake/autoconf working and be gnome complient?