Re: [gnome-love] Things that make you go "What in the world is That?!?"

[Elijah Newren <newren math utah edu>]

On Mon, 2004-05-24 at 17:32, Geiregat Jonas wrote:
<snip>
> > about needing programming ability but that's not a list).  However, may
> > I ask what you mean by "gnu building tools"?  I can think of a few
> > things that might cover:
> >  gcc
> >  make
> >  autoconf
> >  automake
> >  libtool
> >  something else? 
> No, that's fine.

<snip>

> I just believe those tools are vital in the development process of a 
> gnome application, knowing them has many big advantages.

Yes, I agree that those tools are vital in the development of
applications that are part of the official Gnome Desktop and Developer
Platform.  But I am not so sure that beginners need to know those tools
in detail in order to contribute to such applications, or to begin
writing their own applications.  I have basically taken an approach in
which I try to let the reader know what the various tools are for
(although yes, it is scattered a little bit in my tutorial as opposed to
being all in one place).  If you read those sections (I've listed them
in an email in response to Ed on this list that I sent just a few
minutes ago) and have any comments about what I could improve, I'd be
happy to hear them.

For those who really do want to learn the autotools and want a basic
introduction, here's a nice little tutorial:
http://www.murrayc.com/learning/linux/automake/automake.shtml
While it talks about these tools specifically thinking about c++
programs, not much is really specific to c++ and so it is useful to
those writing their programs in c as well.


Hope this helps,
Elijah