Hello Ralf,
> > It would seem odd to have 'autoreconf' invoke 'gnulib-tool'. gnulib-tool
> > is a tool that *fetches* source files, whereas autoreconf is a tool that
> > *combines* source files, generating additional files from them.
> > Therefore gnulib-tool logically belongs before autoreconf.
>
> autoreconf fetches files, too: with --install, both recent aclocal and
> libtoolize copy files into the package, given AC_CONFIG_MACRO_DIR. And
> automake copies files into AC_CONFIG_AUX_DIR. Besides the files that
> are generated.
>
> So I don't really see the principal difference.
There are two differences between gnulib-tool and the files that are
installed by aclocal / automake:
- gnulib-tool does not make releases, therefore one cannot
assume that gnulib-tool is installed in a standard location,
- gnulib-tool changes rapidly, therefore re-executing gnulib-tool
may require subsequent work from the developer. This is not the
case with automake, because the files imported by automake have
an essentially stable contract.
For both reasons, it is not advisable that autoreconf runs gnulib-tool.
Bruno
