Hi Lorenzo, * Lorenzo Bettini wrote on Thu, Apr 23, 2009 at 09:20:05AM CEST: > Ralf Wildenhues wrote: >> * Lorenzo Bettini wrote on Wed, Apr 22, 2009 at 08:15:01PM CEST: >> >>> Yes I know, and these are those files; I was thinking of distributing >>> since my macro (for my library) relies on boost regex, so I wanted >>> to check also for boost regex library inside my macro >> >> You are correct in that you should have those files in your source tree, >> and it is fine if you distribute them in your package tarballs, but >> since your package is not the principal owner of these macro files, you >> should not *install* them. That's the crucial difference. >> >> So, instead of the two lines quoted above, it would be ok to write >> EXTRA_DIST = ax_boost_base.m4 ax_boost_regex.m4 >> >> However, in case you are using these macros in your configure.ac anyway, >> then automake will already take care of adding them to your distribution >> tarball anyway, even without the EXTRA_DIST line.
> but if I don't install them, then the users that want to use my macro > will have to get the additional files themselves, and that would make my > macro for my library useless at that point, wouldn't it? In what way is that different from installed third-party header files? You wouldn't install them with your package either, but still require their presence on your users' systems. Cheers, Ralf
