Re: autoreconf --force seemingly does not forcibly update everything

[Bruno Haible]

Nick Bowler wrote:
> Not including the scripts used to build configure in a source tarball
> is a mistake, particularly for a GPL-licensed package.  The configure
> script itself is clearly object code, and the GPL defines corresponding
> source to include any "scripts to control [its generation]".

But the GPL does not require that the corresponding sources be included
in the *same tarball*.

When a distro distributes binary packages, they don't include the source
code in the same binary .rpm or binary .tar.xz. All they do is to provide
the source code in a location that is straightforward to find.

The same rights hold for upstream package maintainers: When they produce
tarballs, that include a "binary" configure and generated .c files, it is
sufficient that the source code (*.m4 files and .y and .l files) are in
the git repository or submodules, and that the git repository is straight-
forward to find.

Bruno