Subject: Some autoconf requests

From: Grzegorz Nieweglowski <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 23 Apr 2003 15:47:12 +0200

Hi. I've noticed something concerning the fvwm ./configure and install
scripts - they seem to make an assumption that everyone uses/wishes to
use gtk+ and perl. And maybe Gnome, I don't know (no gnome-libs on my
system and not much difference between gtk+ and gnome)

Anyhow, me favorite bugs:

a. there is no way to turn off gtk+ support in fvwm. I think something
like --without-gtk would do nice. Currently I'm using a workaround
'--with-gtk-prefix=/dev/null', but it isn't very nice. I have gtk+, but
don't need it in fvwm. If gtk+ is optional, then there should be a way
to turn it off, even if gtk+ is available.

b. even if I manage to fool the ./configure script into not compiling
FvwmGtk, FvwmGtkDebug will be build (and installed). I think those two
(FvwmGtk and FvwmGtkDebug) should be bundled - without FvwmGtk the
FvwmGtkDebug is pretty much useless...

c. same goes for Perl. I don't wish to use FvwmPerl, but the
--disable-perllib switch works only partially - sure, the perl bindings
won't be included, but scripts depending on them _will_ be installed,
ignoring --disable-perllib. Hey, even the FvwmPerl module will be
installed.  I think the --disable-perllib should be "stronger" (disable
the installation of scripts/modules that need the fvwm perl bindings,
like FvwmDebug or FvwmWindowMenu).
Maybe renaming it to "--disable-perl" would also be more appropriate.

d. installation of man pages. Should be bundled with the installation of
appropriate modules, but this isn't the case, at least now. Even if my
fvwm was build without FvwmGtk, the FvwmGtk man page is ever-present.
I think including man pages for modules that weren't build is a mistake.

All these (and related) glitches have only one source - the
autoconf/automake scripts in fvwm don't care about dependencies between
man pages/scripts/modules/perl bindings - they simply install as much
stuff as possible. I know, this isn't really much of a bug for
end-users, but it sure can turn packaging fvwm for a distro into hell of
a fight. Unresolved perl dependencies during rpm-build, modules that
were installed but will never work etc. Really annoying stuff.

Nothing near "mission-critical", but still annoying.

Well, that's all.

-- 
\hoppke
(Grzegorz Nieweglowski)
http://lubuska.zapto.org/~hoppke/
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