[ I'm Cc-ing the list because this might be interesting to others. ]

Mauro Tortonesi <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:

> ok, i agree here. but, in order to help me with my work on wget, could
> you please tell me:
>
>  * how do you generate a wget tarball for a new release

With the script `dist-wget' in the util directory.  Ideally the `make
dist' target should do the same job, but it gets some things wrong.
Take a look at what `dist-wget' does, AFAIR it's pretty clearly
written.

>  * how do you generate/maintain gettext-related files (e.g. the files in
>    the po directory

The `.po' files are from the translation project.  POTFILES.IN is
generated by hand when a new `.c' file is added.

>  * how do you generate/maintain libtool-related files
>    (e.g. ltmain.sh)

When a new libtool release comes out, ltmain.sh is replaced with the
new one and aclocal.m4 is updated with the latest libtool.m4.
config.sub and config.guess are updated as needed.

>  * how do you generate/maintain automake-related files
>    (e.g. aclocal.m4, mkinstalldirs, install-sh, etc...)

I don't use Automake.  mkinstalldirs and install-sh are standard
Autoconf stuff that probably hasn't changed for years.  If a bug is
discovered, you can get the latest version from the latest Autoconf or
wherever.

> it would be impossible for me to keep working on the
> autoconf-related part of wget without these info.

I hope the above helped.  There's really not much into it.

> BTW: could you please tell me what of these changes are acceptable
> for you:
>
>         * Re-organized all wget-specific autoconf macros in the config
>           directory

As long as you're very careful not to break things, I'm fine with
that.  But be careful: take into account that Wget doesn't ship with
libintl, that it doesn't use Automake, etc.  When in doubt, ask.  If
possible, start with small things.

>         * Re-libtoolized and re-gettextized the package

I believe that libtoolization and gettextization are tied with
Automake, but I could be wrong.  I'm pretty sure that the
gettextization process was wrong for Wget.

>         * Updated aclocal.m4, config.guess, config.sub

Note that Wget doesn't use a pre-generated (or auto-generated)
aclocal.m4.  Updating config.guess and config.sub is, of course, fine.

>         * Added IPv6 stack detection to the configuration process

Please be careful: Wget doesn't need the kind of stack detection that
I've seen in many programs patched to support IPv6.  Specifically, I
don't want to cater to old buggy or obsolete IPv6 stacks.

That's what I liked about Daniel's patch: it was straightforward and
seemed to do the trick.  If at all possible, go along those lines.

>         * Re-named configure.in to configure.ac and modified the
>           file for better autoconf 2.5x compliance

That's fine, as long as it's uncoupled from other changes.
Specifically, it should be possible to test all Autoconf-related
changes.

>         * Added profiling support to the configure script

I'm not sure what you mean here.  Why does configure need to be aware
of profilers?

>         * Re-named the realclean target to maintainer-clean in the
>           Makefiles for better integration with po/Makefile.in.in and
>           conformance to the de-facto standards

That should be fine.

>         * Modified the invocation of config.status in the targets in the
>           "Dependencies for maintenance" section of Makefile.in, according
>           to the new syntax introduced by autoconf 2.5x

I haven't studied the new Autoconf in detail, but I trust that you
know what you're doing here.

>         util/Makefile.in: added rmold.pl target, just like texi2pod.pl
>         in doc/Makefile.in
>
>         src/wget.h: added better handling of HAVE_ALLOCA_H and changed
>         USE_NLS to ENABLE_NLS

Sounds fine.  BTW what do you mean by better handling of
HAVE_ALLOCA_H?  Do you actually know that Wget's code was broken on
some platforms, or are you just replacing old Autoconf boilerplate
code with new one?

Thanks for the work you've put in.

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