Hello automakers. From the automake manual, section 14.1 "Basics of Distribution":
``Automake also has a built-in list of commonly used files that are automatically included if they are found in the current directory (either physically, or as the target of a Makefile.am rule). This list is printed by "automake --help". '' And here is the current list of files automake should distribute automatically: $ automake --help Usage: /usr/bin/automake [OPTION] ... [Makefile]... ... Files which are automatically distributed, if found: ABOUT-GNU README config.rpath ltcf-gcj.sh ABOUT-NLS THANKS config.sub ltconfig AUTHORS TODO configure ltmain.sh BACKLOG acconfig.h configure.ac mdate-sh COPYING aclocal.m4 configure.in missing COPYING.DOC ansi2knr.1 depcomp mkinstalldirs COPYING.LESSER ansi2knr.c elisp-comp py-compile COPYING.LIB compile install-sh stamp-vti ChangeLog config.guess libversion.in texinfo.tex INSTALL config.h.bot ltcf-c.sh ylwrap NEWS config.h.top ltcf-cxx.sh ... But the above is not always correct, as some of these files are distributed *only* if other conditions are met. For example, acconfig.h and aclocal.m4 are distributed only if they really exists at automake runtime (having them as targets in Makefile.am won't work), config.h.bot and config.h.top are distributed only if the AC_CONFIG_HEADERS macro is used, and stamp-vti is distributed only if info_TEXINFOS and version.texi are used. So, either the automake script or the automake help screen should be adjusted. IMHO the current behaviour of automake is good enough, so I think we should adjust the automake help screen to read something like: Files automatically distributed if found: ... Files automatically distributed if found (under certain conditions): ... I will attempt a patch soonish (I already have half-cooked testcases, and the relevant code in automake.in seems quite clear); but as usual, having the issue registered in the bug tracker "JFTR" won't hurt. Regards, Stefano