i have run across, on several occasions, some package or other that wants automake or autoconf or something, and the configure script will test for a specific version __by name__. ie, let's say it's automake 1.4 that's wanted. automake-{am_api_version} --version will be in the configure script, when, IMHO, all it really needs to do is: automake --version now, i freely grant that checking to see whether 1.7.5 is later than 1.4 is more involved than checking to see whether automake-1.4 will run. i'd rather have my binaries installed as binary as opposed to: binary-version # considered yucky yeah, yeah, i know. there's lots of ways to work around it. as it happens, the thing i was installing doesn't actually use automake. what i object to is the configure script complaining about stuff that's okay. i couldn't find a place where the version of automake was set. (configure.in?) do i not know where to look? if autoconf is generating the automake-{am_api_version} line, is there a way to have it leave off the am_api_version biz? is there any sympathy for the idea of doing the needed (involved) checking of the returned version from whatever --version against a {minimum required version}? i'm a newbie, obviously. i did look at the docs, if it's there i didn't catch it. j. -- Jay Scott 512-835-3553 gl@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Head of Sun Support, Sr. Operating Systems Specialist Applied Research Labs, Computer Science Div. S224 University of Texas at Austin