Re: Bison test version 2.0a released

[Paul Eggert]

Hans Aberg <address@hidden> writes:

> Then perhaps there should perhaps be a more formal formulation:
> "bison-2a is only supported for use with m4-1.4.3"

Good suggestion; I installed the patch enclosed below.

> Bison should make some check for version of m4.

That might cause more problems than it cures, as some older versions will
work as described below.  I'd rather leave it alone for now.


2005-05-23  Paul Eggert  <address@hidden>

        * README: Mention m4 1.4.3.  Remove obsolete advice about
        Sun Forte Developer 6 update 2, VMS, and MS-DOS.

--- README.~1.12.~      2005-05-13 23:52:28 -0700
+++ README      2005-05-23 16:18:32 -0700
@@ -3,34 +3,25 @@ This directory contains the Bison parser
 See the file INSTALL for generic compilation and installation instructions.
 See the file doc/FAQ for frequently asked questions.
 
-Bison requires GNU m4 1.4 or later.  Vanilla GNU m4 1.4 has some
-serious bugs, so we recommend using m4 1.4 as patched by the standard
-GNU/Linux distributions.  If you're building GNU m4 1.4 from scratch
-we suggest using this version:
-
-ftp://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/m4/m4-1.4.2.tar.gz
-
-Older versions of Sun Forte Developer 6 update 2 have a compiler bug
-that cause "make check" to fail with a "Encounter BINCL entry"
-diagnostic.  To fix the bug, update to the latest set of Solaris and
-Forte patches recommended by Sun.
-
-VMS and MS-DOS builds are probably broken right now.  If you are able
-to build Bison on either platform and you need to make changes to do
-so, please submit those changes as a bug report.  On VMS, you will
-probably have to create Makefile from Makefile.in by hand.  Remember
-to do `SET COMMAND BISON' to install the data in `BISON.CLD'.
-
-Send bug reports to <address@hidden>.  Please include the version
-number from `bison --version', and a complete, self-contained test
-case in each bug report.
+Bison requires GNU m4 1.4.3 or later.  See:
 
-If you have questions about using Bison which the documentation does
-not answer, send mail to <address@hidden>.
+ftp://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/m4/m4-1.4.3.tar.gz
+
+Bison can work with pre-1.4.3 distributions of GNU m4 if they are
+sufficiently patched, but if you encounter a bug with an older
+distribution and report a bug we will probably suggest that you
+upgrade to 1.4.3 as the first step in trying to fix it.
+
+Please send bug reports to <address@hidden>.  Please include the
+version number from `bison --version', and a complete, self-contained
+test case in each bug report.
+
+If you have questions about using Bison and the documentation does
+not answer them, please send mail to <address@hidden>.
 
 -----
 
-Copyright (C) 1992, 1998, 1999, 2003, 2004 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
+Copyright (C) 1992, 1998, 1999, 2003, 2004, 2005 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
 
 This file is part of Bison, the GNU Compiler Compiler.