Michael Witten wrote: > It appears that for years, m4's source code has been broken; > > * The last commit to the git repo was this: > > commit d69fa5284851b2b7aac25ffac638b6b379994db5 > AuthorDate: Sat Dec 31 14:56:15 2016 -0600 > CommitDate: Mon Jan 9 13:55:30 2017 -0600
You must be looking on the 'master' branch. Unlike most other git repos, for GNU m4, the current development takes place on the 'branch-1.4' branch, not on the 'master' branch: https://git.savannah.gnu.org/gitweb/?p=m4.git;a=shortlog;h=refs/heads/branch-1.4 > * Distros seem to use the last-released tarball: > > https://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/m4/m4-1.4.18.tar.gz > https://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/m4/m4-1.4.18.tar.bz2 > https://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/m4/m4-1.4.18.tar.xz > > * However, the build breaks, and requires this following > patch, which is passed around the Internet like a > sacred talisman; here is a link to Arch Linux's copy: > > > https://github.com/archlinux/svntogit-packages/blob/packages/m4/trunk/m4-1.4.18-glibc-change-work-around.patch > > So, you know, does anyone with knowledge want to update this core component? Yes, this is a known issue. For this reason, we are offering snapshot tarballs (built from aforementioned branch, together with gnulib 'master'). The newest created (snapshot) tarball is available through the Gitlab UI https://gitlab.com/gnu-m4/ci-distcheck > CI/CD > Jobs > Finished (check-optimized) > Job artifacts > Browse > m4-snapshot.tar or directly through the following command sequence: wget -O m4-snapshot.tar 'https://gitlab.com/gnu-m4/ci-distcheck/-/jobs/artifacts/master/raw/m4-snapshot.tar?job=check-optimized' tar xf m4-snapshot.tar Bruno
