Re: [CFT] Shell functionization patch (if you don't know what that means, it's faster Autoconf and leaner configure scripts)

[Tom Browder]

On Mon, Oct 27, 2008 at 9:51 PM, Eric Blake <address@hidden> wrote:
> According to Tom Browder on 10/26/2008 5:38 PM:
>> Any chance of getting (autoconf < configure.ac > configure) to be able
>> to use a Perl script if a macro finds suitable evidence of a modern
>> Perl capability?
>
> Autoconf already uses perl to convert configure.ac into configure.  I
> think you are asking what it would take to rewrite configure to use perl
> rather than sh.  But what would it buy us?  sh is more portable than perl

Eric, I saw the mod as working toward a capability to use another
language during the user's configure step if it is found.  I'm trying
to fix a configure system to modify the Makefile somehow based on the
existence of, in my case, Apache fop.  I've been able to do that but
not as cleanly as I would like.  With the current capability I think
my only solution is to include different Makefile fragments based on
the configure test, but I haven't tried it yet.

Regards,

-Tom