Removing M4 code from the build system

[John H Terpstra]

Jelmer,

I think this would be a good move if it removes our dependence on automake and 
autoconf.

- John T.

On Monday 01 November 2004 12:37, Jelmer Vernooij wrote:
> Hi Metze, *,
>
> Since the build system already depends on perl, what would you think
> about replacing all the current m4 code with perl code ? Basically
> that would give us:
>
>  - No different config.{mk,m4} files (just one config.pm file)
>  - Ability to do our own caching of checks and ability to write
>    clearer tests
>  - More flexibility (e.g. you could import a pidl module to figure out
>    the dependencies of a .idl file)
>  - Less hassle when generating the build system and less dependencies.
>    The code path would be reduced from :
>    		M4 -> shell -> perl -> {makefile, config.h}
> 	to
> 		perl -> {makefile,config.h}
>
> Most of the current perl scripts wouldn't need changes (makefile.pl and
> smb_build.h.pl), it would mostly involve converting the current M4
> files to Perl.
>
> What do you think?
>
> Cheers,
>
> 	Jelmer

-- 
John H Terpstra, CTO
PrimaStasys Inc.
Phone: +1 (650) 580-8668

Author:
The Official Samba-3 HOWTO & Reference Guide, ISBN: 0131453556
Samba-3 by Example, ISBN: 0131472216
Hardening Linux, ISBN: 0072254971
Other books in production.