Doc #66369 [Com]: INSTALL file (generated from Online Docs) fails to mention autoconf/buildconf

Edit report at https://bugs.php.net/bug.php?id=66369&edit=1 ID: 66369 Comment by: Rican7 at gmail dot com Reported by: Rican7 at gmail dot com Summary: INSTALL file (generated from Online Docs) fails to mention autoconf/buildconf Status: Not a bug Type: Documentation Problem Package: Documentation problem Operating System: *nix PHP Version: Irrelevant Block user comment: N Private report: N New Comment: ... That's strange that you say that bjori@php.net: 1. Compiling a code base (of any kind) from source has similar steps, but the PHP project uses a non-standard executable for running autoconf 2. "autoconf" itself isn't the most common tool and can deter new contributors 3. Other projects that have a process using "autoconf" usually remind devs to run it to create the initial configure script. For example, Ruby: http://new.tinygrab.com/3f00c7451001759c65b39d48b4ad387fed1670500e.png (https://github.com/ruby/ruby/blob/trunk/README) 4. The INSTALL script included in the PHP project's GIT repository has literal steps to install from the git source, as if NOT expecting you to just "know what you are doing", and a "./configure" step is listed multiple times (18 counted) without ever mentioning "autoconf" or "buildconf". If its documented, it should be correct/accurate. 5. The information is available in the php.net documentation, its just hard to find and away from the useful source/codebase... so its not like its unnecessary or out of scope information. Previous Comments: ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [2013-12-31 01:46:17] bjori@php.net When you compile PHP from git sources you are on your own and expected to know what you are doing. You do not need autoconf or friends when compiling from a snapshot or a release build. We only document release builds (and upcoming releases). This is done so people that are downloading the actual releases don't have to wade through weird developers-only sections. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [2013-12-30 20:31:41] Rican7 at gmail dot com Yea, it would just really help to consolidate some of the information for easier contributions. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [2013-12-30 20:28:36] aharvey@php.net Specifically, we need to roll in some of the verbiage at http://php.net/git, which covers buildconf and the requirements to build from git instead of tarballs. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [2013-12-30 20:27:10] Rican7 at gmail dot com Description: ------------ --- From manual page: http://www.php.net/install --- The PHP source repository creates dynamic configuration scripts through GNU autoconf, however it takes a decent amount of searching to find that out. The autoconf process is mentioned in a [Help FAQ online][1], but isn't mentioned anywhere in the INSTALL document in the php-src repo. I was going to submit a pull request until I saw the line mentioning that its auto-generated by the online documentation. [1] http://www.php.net/manual/en/faq.build.php#faq.build.configure ------------------------------------------------------------------------ -- Edit this bug report at https://bugs.php.net/bug.php?id=66369&edit=1