Re: AC_C_LONG_DOUBLE is obsolescent.

[Ralf Wildenhues]

* Eric Blake wrote on Wed, Apr 09, 2008 at 10:01:44PM CEST:
> Bob Friesenhahn <bfriesen <at> simple.dallas.tx.us> writes:
> 
> > Solaris 8 is the oldest version of Solaris supported by Sun, however, 
> > I see no reason why Solaris 2.1 should not be able to execute current 
> > autoconf.  Perhaps it might need to be augmented with a newer shell 
> > and a few updated utilities.

> Yes, autoconf will continue to run on these platforms; however, in my
> opinion at least, it is not worth the effort to try and go out of my
> way to fix problems identified on these platforms but not present on
> modern platforms.  In other words, when it comes to obsolete
> platforms, my attitude is 'If it works, great!  If it doesn't work,
> who cares?'

If there's someone to port Autoconf to them, why not?  Unless it's very
difficult to go forward with those limited features ...

> And remember, eventually we are going to transition
> autoconf into requiring shell functions; on old platforms that don't
> provide such a shell by default, you can still use autoconfiscated 
> packages after some initial legwork like installing a new shell, but the 
> initial investment to get your environment up to par with modern systems is 
> on 
> your shoulders and you won't get much outside help in the task.

Shells without function support predate even the above mentioned systems
by quite a bit.

Cheers,
Ralf