Re: [Groff] Tiny make patch: avoid Netpbm dependency

[Werner LEMBERG]

>  |installed to build the info files, or `autoconf' to generate the
>  |configure script.  People who check out from the git *must* have
>  |all
> 
> Hah!  I was really thankful that the generated `configure' became
> part of the git(1) repo -- *thank you* for this decision!

Well, I consider this a remnant from the past.  IMHO, groff's building
system should be completely rewritten to use automake, autoconf, and
gnulib, abandoning a prebuilt `configure' in the git repository also.

> I will not start a rant on one of the most horrifying pieces of
> software ever written (GNU autotools), because i see that even
> a complicated piece of software like GNU Troff can be driven with
> a 128KB m4/ directory.

Actually, I like automake + autoconf a lot.  Of course, this is
something personal – people grown up with, say, cmake will heavily
disagree.

>  |  touch gnu.eps
> 
> Would it make sense to send a patch that does this if at the end of
> all the conditions there is still no `gnu.eps'?

No, thanks.  Instead, you might contribute a patch to implement a
`--without-doc' configure switch that completely disables the
generation of documentation files. :-)


    Werner