Go to file
Eric Blake 968215e7b4 doc: Mention effect of 'autoreconf -fi' on INSTALL
Several projects have a bootstrap script that invokes
'autoreconf -fi' as part of a fresh version control checkout,
in order to avoid storing common files in version control,
while also allowing contributors to rerun bootstrap to pick
up the benefits of any upgrade of one of the autotools.

However, the documentation did not make it obvious that such
a setup will overwrite any customizations to files like
INSTALL, if those files are stored in version control, when
automake still considers that file to be standard based on
AM_INIT_AUTOMAKE settings.  In such a case, a mere
'autoreconf -i' is good for the bootstrap script, while a
separate 'autoreconf -f' is good for picking up on an upgrade
of any autotools.

* bin/autoreconf.in (help): Mention standard files.
* doc/autoconf.texi (autoreconf Invocation): Add more text, including
warning that mixing --force and --install may undo customizations,
and that the set of files impacted is controlled by automake.
Reported by Emil Laine <laine.emil@gmail.com>
Signed-off-by: Eric Blake <eblake@redhat.com>
2016-12-23 10:00:56 -06:00
bin doc: Mention effect of 'autoreconf -fi' on INSTALL 2016-12-23 10:00:56 -06:00
build-aux make fetch 2016-02-06 17:17:49 -08:00
doc doc: Mention effect of 'autoreconf -fi' on INSTALL 2016-12-23 10:00:56 -06:00
lib autoconf: prefer an unrolled loop for trivial AC_CHECK_HEADERS 2016-12-21 08:32:45 -06:00
m4 maint: make update-copyright 2016-02-06 17:17:49 -08:00
man Move config.* man pages to its source tree 2016-02-06 17:17:50 -08:00
tests autoheader: check templates of all config headers 2016-12-21 10:31:54 -06:00
.gitattributes maint: don't sync elisp-comp or missing from gnulib 2012-06-27 16:59:21 -06:00
.gitignore build: remove refs to obsolescent 'mkinstalldir' script and variable 2013-05-06 12:53:41 +02:00
.prev-version maint: post-release administrivia 2012-04-24 21:06:32 -06:00
.x-update-copyright maint: document use of copyright ranges 2011-01-04 16:32:25 -07:00
AUTHORS maint: make update-copyright 2016-02-06 17:17:49 -08:00
BUGS maint: make update-copyright 2016-02-06 17:17:49 -08:00
cfg.mk maint: make update-copyright 2016-02-06 17:17:49 -08:00
ChangeLog.0 Update uses of all-permissive license. 2009-05-20 06:02:49 -06:00
ChangeLog.1 Update uses of all-permissive license. 2009-05-20 06:02:49 -06:00
ChangeLog.2 maint: fix typos in old ChangeLog files 2012-05-29 12:33:46 +02:00
ChangeLog.3 maint: fix typos in old ChangeLog files 2012-05-29 12:33:46 +02:00
configure.ac maint: make update-copyright 2016-02-06 17:17:49 -08:00
COPYING Use GPLv2+ plus exception as license for release. 2008-04-05 17:04:48 -06:00
COPYING.EXCEPTION Update License to GPLv3+ including new Autoconf Exception. 2009-09-09 19:53:31 +02:00
COPYINGv3 Use GPLv2+ plus exception as license for release. 2008-04-05 17:04:48 -06:00
GNUmakefile make fetch 2016-02-06 17:17:49 -08:00
HACKING maint: make update-copyright 2016-02-06 17:17:49 -08:00
maint.mk make fetch 2016-02-06 17:17:49 -08:00
Makefile.am maint: make update-copyright 2016-02-06 17:17:49 -08:00
NEWS autoheader: check templates of all config headers 2016-12-21 10:31:54 -06:00
README maint: make update-copyright 2016-02-06 17:17:49 -08:00
README-alpha maint: make update-copyright 2016-02-06 17:17:49 -08:00
README-hacking maint: make update-copyright 2016-02-06 17:17:49 -08:00
THANKS maint: make update-copyright 2016-02-06 17:17:49 -08:00
TODO maint: make update-copyright 2016-02-06 17:17:49 -08:00

-*- text -*-

Autoconf

Autoconf is an extensible package of M4 macros that produce shell
scripts to automatically configure software source code packages.
These scripts can adapt the packages to many kinds of UNIX-like
systems without manual user intervention.  Autoconf creates a
configuration script for a package from a template file that lists the
operating system features that the package can use, in the form of M4
macro calls.

Producing configuration scripts using Autoconf requires GNU M4 and
Perl.  You should install GNU M4 (version 1.4.6 or later is required;
1.4.14 or later is recommended) and Perl (5.006 or later) before
configuring Autoconf, so that Autoconf's configure script can find
them.  The configuration scripts produced by Autoconf are
self-contained, so their users do not need to have Autoconf (or GNU
M4, Perl, etc.).

You can get GNU M4 here:

ftp://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/m4/

The file INSTALL should be distributed with packages that use
Autoconf-generated configure scripts and Makefiles that conform to the
GNU coding standards.  The package's README can just give an overview
of the package, where to report bugs, and a pointer to INSTALL for
instructions on compilation and installation.  This removes the need
to maintain many similar sets of installation instructions.

Be sure to read BUGS and INSTALL.

Mail suggestions to autoconf@gnu.org, report bugs to
bug-autoconf@gnu.org, and submit patches to autoconf-patches@gnu.org.
All changes can be tracked at the read-only autoconf-commit@gnu.org.
Always include the Autoconf version number, which you can get by
running `autoconf --version'.  Archives of bug-autoconf@gnu.org can be
found in <http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/bug-autoconf/>, and
similarly for the other mailing lists.

Licensing

Autoconf is released under the General Public License version 3 (GPLv3+).
Additionally, Autoconf includes a licensing exception in some of its
source files; see the respective copyright notices for how your
project is impacted by including scripts generated by Autoconf, and the
COPYING.EXCEPTION file for the exception in terms of the Additional
Permissions as described in section 7 of GPLv3.

For more licensing information, see
<http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-faq.html> and
<http://www.gnu.org/licenses/exceptions.html>.

For any copyright year range specified as YYYY-ZZZZ in this package
note that the range specifies every single year in that closed interval.

-----

Copyright (C) 1992-1994, 1998, 2000-2016 Free Software Foundation, Inc.

Copying and distribution of this file, with or without modification,
are permitted in any medium without royalty provided the copyright
notice and this notice are preserved.  This file is offered as-is,
without warranty of any kind.