the gdb/binutils/gcc projects don't commit info pages to the git tree. but people build them from git on old distros semi-frequently. so the tree handles things like old versions of makeinfo -- if a version is too old, then info pages aren't built.
unfortunately, automake doesn't seem to handle this situation correctly. it wants to always build the .info pages even when they're under an automake conditional that is disabled. consider the attached files which are a reduced testcase. the texinfo file has errors in it purely to show the automake issue. $ autoconf --version | head -1 autoconf (GNU Autoconf) 2.71 $ automake --version | head -1 automake (GNU automake) 1.16.5 $ autoreconf -fi $ ./configure -q $ make MAKEINFO ctf-spec.info ctf-spec.texi:2: unknown command `forcedError' make: *** [Makefile:327: ctf-spec.info] Error 1 if i add a stub target in the Makefile.am, it works correctly: --- a/Makefile.am +++ b/Makefile.am @@ -2,4 +2,6 @@ info_TEXINFOS = if BUILD_INFO info_TEXINFOS += ctf-spec.texi +else +ctf-spec.info: endif $ autoreconf -fi $ ./configure -q $ make make: Nothing to be done for 'all'. -mike
configure.ac
Description: application/pkix-attr-cert
ctf-spec.texi
Description: TeXInfo document
AUTOMAKE_OPTIONS = foreign info-in-builddir no-texinfo.tex info_TEXINFOS = if BUILD_INFO info_TEXINFOS += ctf-spec.texi endif
signature.asc
Description: PGP signature
