The Gnits node of automake manual currently (1.10.2) duplicates the documentation for various options to AM_INIT_AUTOMAKE. It would be better to say simply that the option "gnits" implies "std-options", "readme-alpha" and "check-news" (this latter is not currently stated explicitly), and give an xref to the Options node.
-- http://rrt.sc3d.org Radiance is the appeasement of myth (Adorno)
