On Thu, Jan 21, 2021 at 11:30:37AM -0700, John Calcote wrote: Hey John, > 2. The Autotools are actually more transparent than any other build tools > out there. All these other tools' (cmake, maven, etc) - that purport to be > so much simpler because they insulate the user from the underlying details > of the build process - these tool's primary failure is that this very > insulation keeps users from being able to make the changes they need to > accomplish their unique project-specific build goals. > > Anyone who has nothing but good things to say about this aspect of cmake, > maven, gradle, or whatever, has simply not worked on a project that > requires them to move far enough away from the defaults. I've used them all > and I've spent hours in frustration trying to determine how to work around > the shortcomings of some "do-all" (except what I want) tool function. This > is simply not an issue with the Autotools. As someone mentioned earlier in > this thread, you can drop shell script into a configure.ac file, and make > script into a Makefile.am file. That is the very definition of > transparency. No other tool in existence allows this level of flexibility. This is a very good point and one in which I completely agree. In fact, it's such an important point that I thought it prudent to share it with others in our Wikipedia article: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GNU_Autotools#Responses_to_Criticism> > The most interesting feedback I read in the responses was that the > Autotools had an appalling lack of documentation which - ironically - is > actually not true. At the risk of sounding self-serving, I'll say this: in > the research I did for my book (Autotools, No Starch Press, 2019), I > primarily (95%) used the GNU Autotools documentation as reference sources. > The information is all there and actually very concise - too concise > sometimes. The problem with it is two fold. I had no idea you released a second edition! I've kept the first on hand for years. I will add this to my wish list. -- Kip Warner -- Senior Software Engineer OpenPGP encrypted/signed mail preferred http://www.thevertigo.com
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