On Tue, 2008-08-19 at 08:57 +0200, Ralf Wildenhues wrote: > So if you like, a good way out would be this, in pseudo-code: > > if $missing_libfoo; then > AC_MSG_ERROR([This package needs $libfoo. Please tell your system > administrator to `apt-get build-dep $PACKAGE]) > fi > > with possibly adjusting for apt, rpm, etc. What more could Autoconf > provide? I chimed in on something similar to this a while back. I once thought about just sourcing packages and building them in the home directory, but quickly decided that was a bad idea. This can quickly turn in to a never ending mess, as libfoo may depend on libbar, which depends on libfoobar, which depends on libbarfoo (..., ...). What would be useful is an AC_SUGGEST_PACKAGE macro that writes to a file named (perhaps packages.needed) which the user can then use as a guide to meet dependencies. The problem is, as I was discussing earlier variances in package and meta-package names from distro to distro. This means the only time AC_SUGGEST_PACKAGE() would be useful is for unattended builds, scripts could look for its output if configure exits non-zero. I really don't think shooting for an automated install per dependency is a good idea, its a big can of worms that I'm currently trying to get out from under. Cheers, --Tim -- Monkey + Typewriter = Echoreply ( http://echoreply.us ) _______________________________________________ Autoconf mailing list Autoconf@xxxxxxx http://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/autoconf
