tag 398527 + wontfix thanks I've ignored this bug for too long. Here's what Romain Lenglet <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> originally wrote in his report:
> *.m4f files are automatically generated from Autoconf's .m4 files. For > instance, /usr/share/autoconf/autoconf/autoconf.m4f is (re-)generated > by executing: > (cd /usr/share/autoconf/autoconf/ ; autom4te --language=autoconf --freeze > --output=autoconf.m4f) > > Therefore, this file is a good candidate to be placed into > e.g. /var/lib/autoconf/autoconf/, as for the FHS. And a soft link > should be made: > ln -s /var/lib/autoconf/autoconf/autoconf.m4f > /usr/share/autoconf/autoconf/autoconf.m4f > > Idem for .../autotest/autotest.m4f, .../m4sugar/m4sh.m4f, and > ..../m4sugar/m4sugar.m4f. Ralf Wildenhues <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> responded to this proposal on bug-automake: >> The motivation is to let Debian packages add m4 files directly into >> Autoconf's directories, and rebuild the autotest.m4f file at postinst. > > This will make it even less predictable for users what they can expect > when they have Autoconf-x.y. > >> Adding M4 macros directly into Autoconf is mandatory when some macros >> make aclocal crash. For instance, language-support macros must have >> parenthesis in their names, which makes aclocal choke. > > Sounds to me like a bug report against Automake (to which aclocal > belongs) and a fix there would be the most appropriate, no? > >> For instance, >> see macro AC_LANG_PROGRAM(C) in c.m4, or AC_LANG_PROGRAM(Erlang) in >> erlang.m4. Such macros *must* be added directly into Autoconf, since >> they cannot be parsed by aclocal due to bugs in aclocal. > > IMHO the wrong reasoning. You can still dump them into an acinclude.m4 > file in the top directory of your project, or reference them from there. > >> In addition, I suggest to make addition+inclusion of M4 files easier, >> by adding the following line at the end of >> /usr/share/autoconf/autoconf/autoconf.m4: >> m4_include([/var/lib/autoconf/autoconf/autoconf-includes.m4]) > > Please, let's not create yet another way to add macro files. Let's fix > aclocal, or get rid of it in when we have something better. That's my > gut reaction at least. Because Ralf is both sensible and knowledgeable with respect to Autoconf, I'm going to take his advice to heart, and tag this bug wontfix (with this message). Romain: can you give me any more details on the problem with aclocal? I'll happily file a Debian bug report and/or take it up with Automake upstream, if you can give me a test case. -- "[Modern] war is waged by each ruling group against its own subjects, and the object of the war is not to make or prevent conquests of territory, but to keep the structure of society intact." --George Orwell, _1984_ -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
