So, the history is more than this. Larry Wall's Configure (capital C) for rn and Perl was the first step at a shell script to examine system features and generate a config.h. It was inspirational for autoconf, but autoconf doesn't use any of its code, as far as I know.
Autoconf was designed to solve real portability problems. In the late 80s and early 90s there was a huge variety of Unix systems and it was really hard to know what was available and what wasn't based on simple ifdefs. The variations were bigger than Erik makes out. Today, the scale of the problem is reduced, since we have POSIX and also fewer systems out there. Much of the bloat in the Autotools is from legacy. But there are still very real portability issues, especially among some of the fringe *BSD systems. MirBSD in particular is one of the worst, but that's another rant. If one were to start over today, one could likely arrive at a simpler system, but portability problems remain, and they are real. Arnold erik quanstrom <[email protected]> wrote: > confirmed. it's existence is due to early gnu programs fighting with > small variations in unix and compilers. byron's rc used a small script > to the same effect. but for the most part, this all could be avoided > with careful planning and not using esoteric functions. > > gcc also had its own configuration step. the header rewriting is a vestage > of this system. > > - erik > > > On Jul 9, 2015 05:31, Jeff Sickel <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > > > On Jul 9, 2015, at 5:19 AM, Steve Simon <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > > FWIW: fgb did a stirling script called config which sets up some > > > environment and runs configure under ape. It doesn't always work but > > > often gets close > > > to generating a config.h as linux intended. > > > > Configure predates Linux. That, or my memory of using it to bang my head > > against the perl wall in the 1980s damaged the register. > > > > -jas > > > > … at least you’re not using Xenix > > > > > > > From [email protected] Thu Jul 9 07:52:09 2015 > X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.3.1 (2010-03-16) on > frenzy.freefriends.org > X-Spam-Level: > X-Spam-Status: No, score=0.0 required=5.0 tests=TIME_LIMIT_EXCEEDED > autolearn=unavailable version=3.3.1 > X-Envelope-From: [email protected] > Return-Path: <[email protected]> > X-Virus-Scanned: by MailRoute > Date: Thu, 09 Jul 2015 06:50:06 -0700 > X-Android-Message-ID: <[email protected]> > From: erik quanstrom <[email protected]> > To: Fans of the OS Plan 9 from Bell Labs <[email protected]> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8 > Subject: Re: [9fans] Gawk in 9front-ports > X-BeenThere: [email protected] > X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.13 > Precedence: list > Reply-To: Fans of the OS Plan 9 from Bell Labs <[email protected]> > List-Id: Fans of the OS Plan 9 from Bell Labs <9fans.9fans.net> > List-Unsubscribe: <http://mail.9fans.net/options/9fans>, > <mailto:[email protected]?subject=unsubscribe> > List-Archive: <http://mail.9fans.net/private/9fans> > List-Post: <mailto:[email protected]> > List-Help: <mailto:[email protected]?subject=help> > List-Subscribe: <http://mail.9fans.net/listinfo/9fans>, > <mailto:[email protected]?subject=subscribe> > Sender: [email protected] > Errors-To: [email protected] > X-MIME-Autoconverted: from base64 to 8bit by freefriends.org id t69Dq5Ri006148 > Status: R > > confirmed. it's existence is due to early gnu programs fighting with small > variations in unix and compilers. byron's rc used a small script to the same > effect. but for the most part, this all could be avoided with careful > planning and not using esoteric functions. > > gcc also had its own configuration step. the header rewriting is a vestage > of this system. > > - erik > > > On Jul 9, 2015 05:31, Jeff Sickel <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > > > On Jul 9, 2015, at 5:19 AM, Steve Simon <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > > FWIW: fgb did a stirling script called config which sets up some > > > environment and runs configure under ape. It doesn't always work but > > > often gets close > > > to generating a config.h as linux intended. > > > > Configure predates Linux. That, or my memory of using it to bang my head > > against the perl wall in the 1980s damaged the register. > > > > -jas > > > > … at least you’re not using Xenix > > > > > > >
