[article] trimming down autoconf's configure scripts by using pkg-config

[Gabor Gombas]

On Tue, Mar 28, 2006 at 03:08:15AM +0200, Enrico Weigelt wrote:

> > Huh? Name a language that is available on more platforms than a Bourne
> > shell...
> 
> java ?

Hmm, some time ago I ported some software to an Hitachi SR8000 which did
have a Bourne shell but did not have Java support (it did not even have
the notion of shared libraries). Autoconf worked on it just fine.

But to name a more common OS, even Debian Sarge does not install java by
default.

> autoconf is no control language. it is an collection of macros for
> generating shellcripts which then generate makfiles ...

WTF are you smoking? How a language is interpreted (compiled to byte
code or machine code, translated to some other language, or executed
immediately) has nothing to do with the definition of "language".

You can write autoconf source code. You can "compile" it using autoconf.
You can execute the result. You can not even complain that the compiled
version is a shell script that requires an external program (/bin/sh) to
run, because for example the compiled version of Java programs also
require an external program (the Java VM) to run.

Gabor

-- 
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     MTA SZTAKI Computer and Automation Research Institute
                Hungarian Academy of Sciences
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