On Sun, Mar 31, 2024 at 6:19 PM Peter Johansson <troj...@gmail.com> wrote: > > > On 1/4/24 06:00, Eric Gallager wrote: > > So, `aclocal` has a flag to control this behavior: specifically, its > `--install` flag. Right now I don't see `aclocal` mentioned in the GNU > Coding Standards at all. Should they be updated to include a > recommendation as to whether it's better to put `--install` in > `ACLOCAL_AMFLAGS` or not? Or would such a recommendation be a better > fit for the `automake` manual (since that's where `aclocal` comes > from)? > > A common scenario is that the embedded M4 files are not the latest version > and that the code in configure.ac is not compatible with newer versions that > might be installed. Setting the --install flag and make every developer > bootstrap with 'aclocal --install' or anyone trying to bootstrap an old > version of the project would be very fragile. Also 'aclocal --install' only > overwrite the embedded copy if the serial numbers in the files suggest the > installed file is a newer version than the embedded M4 file.
Note that there's some discussion ongoing on the bug-autoconf and bug-gnulib mailing lists (which I'm not subscribed to, but will read via the archives occasionally) regarding whether aclocal's current handling of serial numbers is the correct way to behave or not, see for example starting here: https://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/bug-autoconf/2024-04/msg00003.html > > Peter
