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* (setup.ini) autoconf requires Perl?
@ 2002-09-13  8:15 Patrick J. LoPresti
  2002-09-13  8:33 ` Nicholas Wourms
  0 siblings, 1 reply; 20+ messages in thread
From: Patrick J. LoPresti @ 2002-09-13  8:15 UTC (permalink / raw)
  To: cygwin

Background: We have been using Cygwin for years.  We use Cygwin's
autoconf.  We do not use Cygwin's Perl, and we do not wish to, because
we are quite happy with the native Windows Perl from ActiveState.

The current version of setup.ini thinks that autoconf requires Perl.
This is not strictly true; Perl is only required for certain optional
pieces of autoconf.  The basic autoconf functionality does not require
Perl.

I would like to suggest either removing this dependency, or adding an
"autoconf-noperl" package which is identical to "autoconf" but without
the Perl dependency.  I am willing to contribute patches for either of
these if the maintainers are amenable.

I would also love to hear other suggestions.  Note that "just deselect
Perl during setup" is not a good answer for me, since I am automating
this installation across a large number of workstations (using
AutoIt).  Clicking at a certain spot in a certain dialog to select
"all packages" is feasible to automate; scrolling down a list to
select/deselect particular packages is not.

Thanks for your time.  And thanks for Cygwin!

 - Pat

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^ permalink raw reply	[flat|nested] 20+ messages in thread
* RE: (setup.ini) autoconf requires Perl?
@ 2002-09-13 10:54 Robinow, David
  0 siblings, 0 replies; 20+ messages in thread
From: Robinow, David @ 2002-09-13 10:54 UTC (permalink / raw)
  To: cygwin

> From: Patrick J. LoPresti [mailto:patl@curl.com]
> Subject: Re: (setup.ini) autoconf requires Perl?
> Heuristics are often a poor design.  The author of the Perl code knows
> which version she wants; she should have a way to specify it.
> 
> "perl" vs. "perl.exe" is not a perfect solution, but it is at least as
> good as any of the others I have seen.
 /proc/registry/HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SOFTWARE/Perl/BinDir contains the path to
ActiveState Perl
(/proc/registry/HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SOFTWARE/ActiveState/ActivePerl also
points to it indirectly)
 Somebody more industrious than I could write a script to invoke it.
 Once you find yourself in perl,  $^O  returns "MSWin32" for ActivePerl and
"cygwin" for guess what.

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^ permalink raw reply	[flat|nested] 20+ messages in thread
* RE: (setup.ini) autoconf requires Perl?
@ 2002-09-13 13:24 Robinow, David
  2002-09-13 14:02 ` Nicholas Wourms
  0 siblings, 1 reply; 20+ messages in thread
From: Robinow, David @ 2002-09-13 13:24 UTC (permalink / raw)
  To: cygwin

> From: Patrick J. LoPresti [mailto:patl@curl.com]
> Subject: Re: (setup.ini) autoconf requires Perl?
> Christopher Faylor <cgf@redhat.com> writes:
> > Please disabuse yourself of the notion that we will be changing the
cygwin
> > installation to solve your problems.  It is not going to happen.
> 
> "My" problem is that two different programs have the same name.  I
  You have failed to demonstrate that this is an actual problem.

> understand now why Cygwin Perl needs the .exe to function correctly.
> And anyway, I was not really expecting to see anything change,
> including your legendary attitude.  (When hundreds of people tell him
> he's an ass, a wise man will consider that maybe, just maybe, he is
> doing something wrong.)
 I do not feel that a definitive statement of direction
from the leader of a project constitutes being an ass.
He even said please! 
> 
> The correct solution is probably for ActivePerl to have been named
> something else, like "ActivePerl.exe".  And autoconf should not depend
> on Perl in the first place, since it is not a standard Unix utility.
> But I do not expect either of those things to change, either.
 Nothing is stopping you.
  mv /c/perl/bin/perl.exe /c/perl/bin/ActivePerl.exe

 Your statement about autoconf depending on perl is just silly.

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^ permalink raw reply	[flat|nested] 20+ messages in thread
* RE: (setup.ini) autoconf requires Perl?
@ 2002-09-14  0:06 Robinow, David
  2002-09-14  6:20 ` Raphael
  0 siblings, 1 reply; 20+ messages in thread
From: Robinow, David @ 2002-09-14  0:06 UTC (permalink / raw)
  To: 'Nicholas Wourms', cygwin

> From: Nicholas Wourms [mailto:nwourms@yahoo.com]
> Subject: RE: (setup.ini) autoconf requires Perl?
> --- "Robinow, David" <drobinow@dayton.adroit.com> wrote:
> > 
> >  Your statement about autoconf depending on perl is just silly.
> Excuse me, I direct you to "vi /usr/autotools/devel/bin/autoheader". 
> Then check out "autom4te" in the same directory.  The latter is
> *required* to generate any configure script using autoconf 2.5x. 
> Just for the archives and again for the record, perl is *required*
> for autoconf.
 Excuse me.  My attempt at brevity has led to confusion.  I was not
disputing
the dependency, I was disputing the contention that autoconf should
not depend on perl because perl is "not a standard unix tool".

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^ permalink raw reply	[flat|nested] 20+ messages in thread

end of thread, other threads:[~2002-09-14 11:57 UTC | newest]

Thread overview: 20+ messages (download: mbox.gz / follow: Atom feed)
-- links below jump to the message on this page --
2002-09-13  8:15 (setup.ini) autoconf requires Perl? Patrick J. LoPresti
2002-09-13  8:33 ` Nicholas Wourms
2002-09-13  8:42   ` Patrick J. LoPresti
2002-09-13  8:44     ` Igor Pechtchanski
2002-09-13  8:51       ` Nicholas Wourms
     [not found]         ` <mit.lcs.mail.cygwin/20020913154431.6322.qmail@web21001.mail.yahoo.com>
2002-09-13 12:36           ` Patrick J. LoPresti
2002-09-13  8:52       ` Patrick J. LoPresti
2002-09-13  9:33         ` Igor Pechtchanski
2002-09-13  8:46     ` Nicholas Wourms
2002-09-13  8:54       ` Patrick J. LoPresti
2002-09-13  9:02         ` Christopher Faylor
     [not found]           ` <mit.lcs.mail.cygwin/20020913155406.GD3863@redhat.com>
2002-09-13 13:07             ` Patrick J. LoPresti
2002-09-13 10:29         ` Gerrit P. Haase
2002-09-13  8:54     ` Christopher Faylor
2002-09-13 10:54 Robinow, David
2002-09-13 13:24 Robinow, David
2002-09-13 14:02 ` Nicholas Wourms
2002-09-14  0:06 Robinow, David
2002-09-14  6:20 ` Raphael
2002-09-14  7:25   ` Nicholas Wourms

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