Hello, Paul!
> 1) Have AC_CANONICAL_HOST require AC_PROG_CC, as Ossama suggested. One
> problem here is that not all runs of config.guess _do_ require a C
> compiler, and it's a minor drag that you can't use AC_CANONICAL_HOST
> without a C compiler; couldn't we write a configure.in for some
> system that _didn't_ need a C compiler? Or is that already right out?
Some proprietary systems only have a C++ compiler and they don't require
running any compiler in config.guess
I know a Solaris 2.5.1 system configured this way.
> 2) Not require it, but change the recommended process, in the manual
> etc., to encourage people to put AC_PROG_CC before AC_CANONICAL_HOST
> if they're going to use it.
Probably Autoconf can enforce it by using AC_BEFORE
> 3) Have config.guess print a more reasonable error message if it needs
> a compiler and can't find one; it should try to build the most
> trivial test program possible, like "int main() { return 0; }", and
> link and run it; if it doesn't work print something like "can't find
> a working C compiler; set HOST_CC to a working compiler, or provide
> a valid host specifier to configure". Or whatever.
This is a good idea anyway. Autoconf should do its best to supply CC to
config.guess, but if it fails config.guess should be able to raise its
voice.
Pavel Roskin
