Re: why does php support 'only' out-of-date/obsolete versions of automake/autoconf?

hi ilia,

PHP works just fine with newer version of autoconf and automake. For example I am using autoconf 2.60 and automake 1.9.6 and not experiencing any build issues. One of the reasons we recommend autoconf 2.13 is because it has a non-broken implementation of config test caching and unlike autoconf 2.60 does not require re-running of every configuration test on PHP rebuild.

yes, i know it "works" fine :-) in fact, i personally build/use php 52cvs with: autoconf (GNU Autoconf) 2.60 automake (GNU automake) 1.9.6 on my osx 10.4.8 box. the problem is that *other* php-related projects' code breaks with recent versions of automake. of course, i 1st tried to talk to the project's developer about the issue. the response was, roughly, that -- since php "only supports automake 1.4" that they'll only support v1.4. which is all fine & good -- except when the developer of the 'other' project is also ON the php-development team as well. in response to questions abt this @ #php, one dev's response -- probably very accurate -- is that this is the case because "autoconf issues are boring to work on". one great big catch-22 :-(