libtool and mkoctfile

[John W. Eaton]

I would like to make the mkoctfile script use libtool to create .oct
files, the same as we will soon be using in the Makefiles that build
the .oct files that are part of Octave.  I think I have most of the
details worked out, but one problem remains.  Libtool is a Unix shell
script, so we will need to do something for Windows systems.  Is it
reasonable for Octave to require a Unix command shell and the
associated commands that libtool requires for building .oct files?

If not, then I suppose that when Octave is built, we could try to
extract from libtool the commands that it would run, and embed those
in the mkoctfile script/program, though I'm not sure how to do that in
a reliable way.  If we do go this route, then I would like to consider
again eliminating the mkoctfile script and keeping only the C++
program.  Having both seems like asking for trouble as the two are
likely to get out of sync.

It seems easier to me to just package a Unix shelland the necessary
commands for Windows systems, then eliminate the C++ version of
mkoctfile.

If you object to including a Unix shell, why?  Suppose that libtool
were written in Perl.  Would you also object to including perl in the
distribution so that Octave could run the libtool script?  Octave
already includes a perl function.  Do we distribute a copy of Perl
with Octave on Windows systems so that the perl function can work?

Comments?

jwe