I've long been annoyed by the needless complexity and obscurity of autoconf and related tools. Finally someone who understands the problem much better than I do has spoken up.
The autoconf tools are also portable to almost every *nix platform in existence, which generally makes it easier to release your program for a large variety of systems. However, despite these few pluses, the auto* tools are constantly a thorn in the side of users and developers alike.
Read the full article on freshmeat.net
Posted by jzawodn at June 21, 2003 08:40 AM
Reader Comments
# Justin said:
autoconf: when all you have is an M4-shaped hammer, everything looks like a nail.
Don't even get me started on automake. Now *that* is possibly the most inflexible POS -- even *worse* than imake, and that's saying something...
on June 21, 2003 12:53 PM
# David said:
O'Reilly really needs to come out with a book on the auto* tools. Most people need only the basic functionality, and O'Reilly's books usually explain that (and more) to a degree most people can understand.
on June 22, 2003 09:23 AM
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