begin quoting Andrew Lentvorski as of Sun, May 11, 2008 at 06:24:10PM -0700: > So, today I'm building dovecot and I get: > checking for grep that handles long lines and -e... configure: error: no > acceptable grep could be found in > /opt/SunStudioExpress/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/usr/xpg4/bin > > Okay, dovecot handles some screwy stuff, I can see it requiring an > advanced (read: non-BSD, sigh) grep.
Does it actually *require* the advanced grep? > So, I go to GNU, grab the latest > grep and build: > > checking how to run the C preprocessor... cc -E > checking for grep that handles long lines and -e... configure: error: no > acceptable grep could be found in > /opt/SunStudioExpress/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/usr/xpg4/bin > > Oh, yes, you read that right. In order to build GNU grep, you need GNU > grep. Gotta love the bootstrap problem. > Arghhhh. > > And, it's listed as a "won't-fix" bug on Savannah. > > Argggghhh! > > Even worse, *grep* doesn't require the advanced grep. The only thing > that needs grep is *configure*. > > ARGGGGGGGGHHH! I tend to *first* go into the configure script and manually disable such tests before I go chasing down dependencies. Suprisingly often, this works (even if other times it fails miserably). Most recently, configure was complaining about not finding libexpat, when there was a libexpat already installed on the system. I wish the generated script were better organized and reasonably commented. > So, we have now reached the point that the *configure* now has a bigger > dependency chain than the software it builds. "All the world is Linux". I feel your pain. Can I help? I have tequila. > It's bad enough that I maintain /usr/garbage/bin (or /opt/garbage/bin) > solely to hold the dependency chain for those times when I need the POS > that is autotools. *NOW* I even need it to run the [EMAIL PROTECTED] > configure script. I used to mock the M$Windows community for their hellish dependency problems. Just goes to show... mocking anyone is a bad idea. > I will never use autotools again at this point, and I will actively > attempt to rip it out of projects that do that I have any influence over. I read an essay yesterday where the author comparied the autotools to C++. They're apparently wonderful, once you drink the koolaid. You just have to understand them, and if you don't like 'em, you've not done sufficient work. *sigh* -- Let's go back to explicit make files. Please. Stewart Stremler -- KPLUG-List@kernel-panic.org http://www.kernel-panic.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/kplug-list
