[analog-help] Re: analog autoconf'ed ? (was: The next 'best'analyzer...?)

[Dimitri Maziuk]

On Friday 31 August 2007 14:26:43 Aengus wrote:
> Per Jessen <per at computer.org> wrote:
> > Dimitri Maziuk wrote:
> >>> Alright, then perhaps not autoconf itself, but the general "edit the
> >>> header file" configuration method is a little dated, so some kind of
> >>> assisted config tool would come in handy.
> >>
> >> My take on it, if one can't edit the defines in Makefile/header file,
> >> then one probably won't be able to create a usable analog config file
> >> either. Or apache config file -- so that person probably shouldn't
> >> try to run a webserver anyway.
> >
> > autoconf is used by 99.9% of the software I use.  That alone seems to
> > be a strong indication of its distinct advantages over hand-editing a
> > pile of header files.
> >
> > If it was up to me, analog-7.0 would be autoconf'ed.
>
> What exactly is it that you need to edit in Analog header files?
>
> Describing anlghead.h as "a pile of header files" sounds like sophistry
> to me.

You're way more polite than I am: my choice of word begins with bull and ends 
with fecal matter.

Per, just because all those lignux people use autoconf doesn't mean you 
should, too. On one end of the spectrum there's Linux kernel where lots of 
things need to be configured pre-compilation. It's not using autoconf because 
autoconf can't handle that level of complexity. On the other end there's 
analog with one header file which you don't even need to touch 99% of the 
time. It's not using autoconf because there's nothing there to autoconf.

Personally, last time I read their sales blurb (web page explaining why 
autoconf makes things easy), it didn't make any sense to me. It may make 
sense to people with no clue as to how to use a compiler or write portable 
code, but I am not one of them. As a sysadmin I mostly get to deal with 
autoconf when it breaks. Badly. So don't get me started.

Dima
-- 
Dimitri Maziuk
Programmer/sysadmin
BioMagResBank, UW-Madison -- http://www.bmrb.wisc.edu