Re: Multi-OS Makefiles

[Ben Goren <ben_(_at_)_trumpetpower_(_dot_)_com>]

On 2004 Aug 8, at 3:19 AM, Marc Espie wrote:

>> As long as we're bashing autoconf...why on Earth can't it cache some 
>> of
>> those things?
>
> Because autoconf doesn't have the semantic knowledge to do that.

And that's exactly my point. If autoconf weren't such a horrid kluge to 
begin with, there wouldn't be all those ad-hock scripts to check for 
dependencies. There'd be a clean, simple interface and a standard 
repository of functions to make the checks. You'd only have to roll 
your own if somebody hadn't already done so--in which case you'd be 
strongly encouraged to contribute your check back to the pool. Heck, 
it'd probably wind up being a cousin to locate(1), too.

The fact that it's not is enough to warrant the autohell label all by 
itself.

Cheers,

b&

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