Re: [XaraXtreme-dev] Re: configure.in:305: error: possibly undefined macro: AM_GNU_GETTEXT

["Israel G. Lugo" <ilugo@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Luke Hart wrote:
> Most packages don't have them in SVN, but as part of generating the
> tar-ball they are created (as you suggest).
Indeed most packages do not have the generated files under version
control. While it does make life somewhat easier for those who want to
build from checked out sources, it adds an (arguably) unnecessary
overhead to the repository. Still, I would say that is mostly a matter
of choice - weighing the benefits versus the cost.

> I was following the instructions for another package (I've forgotten
> which one, thought). I suspect that using links will ensure that the
> latest version is always used, rather than the files no longer
> matching the version of the libraries, etc. on a users machine.
The problem with using symlinks for these files is one of portability:
systems might not have the files in the expected location, or they might
not have them at all. Personally, I would not use the -s flag, but
include the files in the package instead. If we think that part of the
whole purpose of a configure system is to have maximum portability, then
it logically follows that we should include the necessary tools for the
package to configure itself.

The files generated by autoreconf are all machine-independent anyway
(they're mostly shell scripts and their purpose is precisely to be
portable). The maintainer just needs to keep the files reasonably up to
date, which is easy enough, and that way the package is much more
self-sufficient.

Israel