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It always seemed to me that most of these differences and macros could be defined in a static header file that has a million #ifdefs for different OS and compil
by cpeterso 3y ago
It always seemed to me that most of these differences and macros could be defined in a static header file that has a million #ifdefs for different OS and compiler versions. That seems simpler and more reliable, and usable for cross compiling, than running dynamic checks with autoconf.
- smackeyacky 3y agoHmmm. Nope. The file would be near unusable and contain a pile of things you don’t care about where autoconf can cope with the one or two cases you are trying to manage. Despite the description above of the genesis of autoconf, at the time when there were dozens of nearly compatible unices, it was a key enabling technology for free software to be distributed and shouldn’t be discounted just because it’s a little hard to understand.
- db48x 3y agoIt was absolutely a boon to all developers who used it. If you didn’t use it you were doing things the hard way. Just don’t look too hard at the implementation, because like I said M4 causes actual brain damage.