GNU bug report logs - #20373
automake 1.15 overwriting custom INSTALL file

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Message #5 received at submit <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Emil <laine.emil <at> gmail.com>
To: bug-automake <at> gnu.org
Subject: automake 1.15 overwriting custom INSTALL file
Date: Mon, 20 Apr 2015 00:31:56 +0300

Hi,

We have a custom INSTALL file in our project. Running `autoreconf -i`
(which AFAIK calls `automake --add-missing`) results in our INSTALL file
to be overwritten by the standard GNU INSTALL file, which is not what we
want.

BACKGROUND:
Here's a relevant part quoted from the automake manual
(https://www.gnu.org/software/automake/manual/html_node/Gnits.html):

> If the --add-missing option is given, automake will add a generic version
> of the INSTALL file as well as the COPYING file [...]. However, an
> existing COPYING file will never be overwritten by automake.

However it doesn't explicitly state whether an INSTALL file will be
overwritten or not, but I'm assuming it shouldn't be overwritten. Also,
while adding the `foreign` option to automake will prevent this behavior,
I wouldn't really consider it as a fix.

I also posted about this on the Unix & Linux SE:
http://unix.stackexchange.com/q/197238/103132

REPRODUCING:
You can find the minimal versions of our configure.ac, Makefile.am, and
autogen.sh scripts in the SE post, or as a gist here:
https://gist.github.com/emlai/1a42108bd787cadc3aa9

If needed, you can also take a look at the whole project branch which
reproduces the problem for me:
https://github.com/emlai/ivan/tree/automake-bug
You can simply download it and run the following commands to try if you
can reproduce the error:

	cd ivan-automake-bug
	head INSTALL
	./autogen.sh
	head INSTALL

I'm using autoconf-2.69 and automake-1.15.

Cheers, Emil Laine <laine.emil <at> gmail.com>

Message #8 received at 20373 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Emil <laine.emil <at> gmail.com>
To: 20373 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: automake 1.15 overwriting custom INSTALL file (fixed, not a bug)
Date: Mon, 20 Apr 2015 02:13:08 +0300

Hi again,

I just realized this is actually not a bug, and was simply caused by the
-f option passed to autoreconf.

Autoreconf seems to forward it to automake as the --force-missing option,
which, according to the manual, "force[s] update of standard files".

Autoreconf's man entry for -f simply states that it will "consider all
files obsolete", which for me wasn't very clear about its implications,
so I couldn't link it to the unwanted behavior I was experiencing.

More info: http://unix.stackexchange.com/a/197327/103132

Cheers, Emil Laine <laine.emil <at> gmail.com>

Message #13 received at 20373 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Mathieu Lirzin <mthl <at> gnu.org>
To: Emil <laine.emil <at> gmail.com>
Cc: 20373 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: Re: bug#20373: automake 1.15 overwriting custom INSTALL file (fixed,
 not a bug)
Date: Sat, 04 Mar 2017 13:50:33 +0100

Hello Emil

Emil <laine.emil <at> gmail.com> writes:

> I just realized this is actually not a bug, and was simply caused by the
> -f option passed to autoreconf.
>
> Autoreconf seems to forward it to automake as the --force-missing option,
> which, according to the manual, "force[s] update of standard files".
>
> Autoreconf's man entry for -f simply states that it will "consider all
> files obsolete", which for me wasn't very clear about its implications,
> so I couldn't link it to the unwanted behavior I was experiencing.

The Autoreconf and its manual is maintained by Autoconf package.
You can report this documentation bug to <bug-autoconf <at> gnu.org> if you want.

Thanks.

-- 
Mathieu Lirzin
GPG: F2A3 8D7E EB2B 6640 5761  070D 0ADE E100 9460 4D37

Message #20 received at 20373 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Mathieu Lirzin <mthl <at> gnu.org>
To: Emil <laine.emil <at> gmail.com>
Cc: 20373 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: Re: bug#20373: automake 1.15 overwriting custom INSTALL file (fixed,
 not a bug)
Date: Sat, 04 Mar 2017 14:02:37 +0100

Mathieu Lirzin <mthl <at> gnu.org> writes:

> Hello Emil
>
> Emil <laine.emil <at> gmail.com> writes:
>
>> I just realized this is actually not a bug, and was simply caused by the
>> -f option passed to autoreconf.
>>
>> Autoreconf seems to forward it to automake as the --force-missing option,
>> which, according to the manual, "force[s] update of standard files".
>>
>> Autoreconf's man entry for -f simply states that it will "consider all
>> files obsolete", which for me wasn't very clear about its implications,
>> so I couldn't link it to the unwanted behavior I was experiencing.
>
> The Autoreconf and its manual is maintained by Autoconf package.

should be :
  "The autoreconf program and its manual are maintained by Autoconf"

-- 
Mathieu Lirzin
GPG: F2A3 8D7E EB2B 6640 5761  070D 0ADE E100 9460 4D37

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