README
1-*- text -*-
2
3Autoconf
4
5Autoconf is an extensible package of M4 macros that produce shell
6scripts to automatically configure software source code packages.
7These scripts can adapt the packages to many kinds of UNIX-like
8systems without manual user intervention. Autoconf creates a
9configuration script for a package from a template file that lists the
10operating system features that the package can use, in the form of M4
11macro calls.
12
13Producing configuration scripts using Autoconf requires GNU M4. You
14must install GNU M4 (version 1.4 or later) before configuring
15Autoconf, so that Autoconf's configure script can find it. The
16configuration scripts produced by Autoconf are self-contained, so
17their users do not need to have Autoconf (or GNU M4).
18
19Some optional utilities that come with Autoconf, autoscan and
20autoupdate, use Perl 5.5. However, it is not required in order to use
21the main Autoconf programs. If it is not present, the affected
22Autoconf utilities will not be installed.
23
24The file INSTALL should be distributed with packages that use
25Autoconf-generated configure scripts and Makefiles that conform to the
26GNU coding standards. The package's README can just give an overview
27of the package, where to report bugs, and a pointer to INSTALL for
28instructions on compilation and installation. This removes the need
29to maintain many similar sets of installation instructions.
30
31Be sure to read BUGS (especially if this Autoconf is not an official
32release) and INSTALL.
33
34This version of the package Autoconf uses a fixed version of Automake
351.4. If ever you alter some Makefile.am (i.e., if you hack Autoconf
36itself), you'll have to use either a more recent release of Automake,
37or download the patch from
38
39 http://packages.debian.org/stable/devel/automake.html
40
41Mail suggestions to autoconf@gnu.org, bug reports to
42autoconf-bugs@gnu.org, and patches to autoconf-patches@gnu.org.
43Please include the Autoconf version number, which you can get by
44running `autoconf --version'.
45