[Zlib-devel] zlib 1.2.4.2 ready for its close up

[Cosmin Truta]

On Sat, Apr 10, 2010 at 2:20 PM, Alon Bar-Lev wrote:
> However, I don't understand why not use autoconf/automake/libtool that
> makes it easier to support multi-platform environment and re-invent
> the wheel... Much simpler to rewrite the build and provide proper
> support for all platforms, cross compile etc..

We do use cmake, which is truly multi-platform, as opposed to the
autotools, which are only multi-Unix-platform...

As for "easier", I find the current hand-written configure and
makefile simple and easy enough to understand, debug, and further
develop. They worked well so far, not to mention that pretty much
everyone understands make and Bourne shell. The autotools are easy for
the people who know them well, but, in my 2 cents worth of experience
and personal opinion, they're not so friendly to newbies -- especially
to newbies who run into trouble and can't figure out whether it's them
who're doing something wrong, or it's the autotools that have some
weird bug.

Best regards,
Cosmin