Hi, I have written a program that downloads, (given approval) compiles and (calling su) installs dependencies. The program is called dependable and can be found at http://sourceforge.net/projects/dependable The person distributing a package creates a file which specifies where (HTTP or FTP) the required files can be downloaded and what their SHA1 or MD5 hashes are. The package distributor includes this file and a copy of dependable (which is written in perl) along with their regular install files and causes their configure/install script to execute dependable if a dependency is not found. Dependable will download the requested file, check the hash, compile and install. Multiple URLs are allowed. Dependable is GPL and has very few dependencies. I think that the next step for dependable is to make it interoperate closely with (and perhaps someday become attached to) autoconf. Hell, I'd like to bring my kids up in a world where their ./configure scripts download and install whatever dependencies they need instead of telling them to go hunt through the web for the libraries that they need. I'd like a bit of help pursuing this -- or at least finding out what to do next. I also wouldn't mind having a few testers to give me feedback. dependable can be found at http://sourceforge.net/projects/dependable thanks, Jonathan
