Re: [Xen-devel] [PATCH RFC v2] build: add autoconf to replace custom checks in tools/check

[Ian Jackson <Ian.Jackson@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Jan Beulich writes ("Re: [Xen-devel] [PATCH RFC v2] build: add autoconf to 
replace custom checks in tools/check"):
> I think Ian had asked this already, but I also think that I didn't see
> an answer: Is this relatively new version really a requirement. Not
> even SLE11 SP2, which hasn't shipped yet, has this new an
> autoconf package. And I would hope to continue to be able to
> build on SLE10 SP4, which only has 2.59, without having to
> manually build newer packages...

Indeed.  There are two parts to the answer:
  * Firstly, an older autoconf should do fine.  I think we should aim
    to be compatible with autoconf 2.59 certainly.
  * Secondly, autoconf should not be added to the build dependencies.
    Instead, we should check in the autoconf-generated files.

> > +    # ./autogen.sh
> > +
> > +   Before executing ./configure (this step can be ommited when
> > +   building from a distribution package).
> > +
> > +    # ./configure
> 
> Can these two steps be automated (i.e. the need to run either
> be determined by the absence of some file(s), and them being
> invoked from the top level Makefile)?

Automating this turns out to be very annoying.  If the autoconfery is
checked in then running autogen.sh is not necessary.

The usual approach is then to simply
  ./configure
  make
  make install

Ian.

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