Subject: automake does not really automatically distribute all the files it's advertised to.

From: Stefano Lattarini <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 10 Jan 2011 20:50:13 +0100

Hello automakers.

From the automake manual, section 14.1 "Basics of Distribution":

 ``Automake also has a built-in list of commonly used files that are
   automatically included if they are found in the current directory
   (either physically, or as the target of a Makefile.am rule). This
   list is printed by "automake --help". ''

And here is the current list of files automake should distribute
automatically:

  $ automake --help
  Usage: /usr/bin/automake [OPTION] ... [Makefile]...
  ...
  Files which are automatically distributed, if found:
    ABOUT-GNU           README              config.rpath        ltcf-gcj.sh
    ABOUT-NLS           THANKS              config.sub          ltconfig
    AUTHORS             TODO                configure           ltmain.sh
    BACKLOG             acconfig.h          configure.ac        mdate-sh
    COPYING             aclocal.m4          configure.in        missing
    COPYING.DOC         ansi2knr.1          depcomp             mkinstalldirs
    COPYING.LESSER      ansi2knr.c          elisp-comp          py-compile
    COPYING.LIB         compile             install-sh          stamp-vti
    ChangeLog           config.guess        libversion.in       texinfo.tex
    INSTALL             config.h.bot        ltcf-c.sh           ylwrap
    NEWS                config.h.top        ltcf-cxx.sh
  ...

But the above is not always correct, as some of these files are distributed
*only* if other conditions are met.  For example, acconfig.h and aclocal.m4
are distributed only if they really exists at automake runtime (having them
as targets in Makefile.am won't work), config.h.bot and config.h.top are
distributed only if the AC_CONFIG_HEADERS macro is used, and stamp-vti is
distributed only if info_TEXINFOS and version.texi are used.

So, either the automake script or the automake help screen should be
adjusted.

IMHO the current behaviour of automake is good enough, so I think we
should adjust the automake help screen to read something like:

   Files automatically distributed if found:
     ...

   Files automatically distributed if found (under certain conditions):
     ...

I will attempt a patch soonish (I already have half-cooked testcases,
and the relevant code in automake.in seems quite clear); but as usual,
having the issue registered in the bug tracker "JFTR" won't hurt.

Regards,
  Stefano