Subject: bug#7994: make distcheck fails when latex is not installed

From: Karl Berry <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 7 May 2020 19:44:55 -0600

Lacking further input, I've pushed the following documentation-only
change to close this one. A further change, for
https://bugs.gnu.org/8289 (which has much more discussion), should make
it possible to omit and change running make dvi. --thanks, karl.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
docs: make dist implies make dvi.

This change handles https://bugs.gnu.org/7994.

* doc/automake.texi (Preparing Distributions): make distcheck
runs make dvi.
(Auxiliary Programs) <texinfo.tex>: mention
that make dist runs make dvi, and therefore a TeX system is
required when Texinfo sources are present. Add @cmindex entries
for all auxiliary programs while we're here.
diff --git a/doc/automake.texi b/doc/automake.texi
index 1b35883..adc44f5 100644
--- a/doc/automake.texi
+++ b/doc/automake.texi
@@ -1232,8 +1232,8 @@ work:
 @item
 It attempts a full compilation of the package (@pxref{Basic
 Installation}), unpacking the newly constructed tarball, running
-@code{make}, @code{make check}, @code{make install}, as well as
-@code{make installcheck}, and even @code{make dist},
+@code{make}, @code{make dvi}, @code{make check}, @code{make install},
+as well as @code{make installcheck}, and even @code{make dist},
 @item
 it tests VPATH builds with read-only source tree (@pxref{VPATH Builds}),
 @item
@@ -2258,10 +2258,12 @@ source in case you need more recent versions.

 @table @code
 @item ar-lib
+@cmindex ar-lib
 This is a wrapper primarily for the Microsoft lib archiver, to make
 it more POSIX-like.

 @item compile
+@cmindex compile
 This is a wrapper for compilers that do not accept options @option{-c}
 and @option{-o} at the same time.  It is only used when absolutely
 required.  Such compilers are rare, with the Microsoft C/C++ Compiler
@@ -2272,6 +2274,8 @@ translation where needed: @option{-I}, @option{-L}, @option{-l},

 @item config.guess
 @itemx config.sub
+@cmindex config.guess
+@cmindex config.sub
 These two programs compute the canonical triplets for the given build,
 host, or target architecture.  These programs are updated regularly to
 support new architectures and fix probes broken by changes in new
@@ -2282,26 +2286,31 @@ you are encouraged to fetch the latest versions of these files from
 release.

 @item depcomp
+@cmindex depcomp
 This program understands how to run a compiler so that it will
 generate not only the desired output but also dependency information
 that is then used by the automatic dependency tracking feature
 (@pxref{Dependencies}).

 @item install-sh
+@cmindex install-sh
 This is a replacement for the @command{install} program that works on
 platforms where @command{install} is unavailable or unusable.

 @item mdate-sh
+@cmindex mdate-sh
 This script is used to generate a @file{version.texi} file.  It examines
 a file and prints some date information about it.

 @item missing
+@cmindex missing @r{program}
 This wraps a number of programs that are typically only required by
 maintainers.  If the program in question doesn't exist, or seems too old,
 @command{missing} will print an informative warning before failing out,
 to provide the user with more context and information.

 @item mkinstalldirs
+@cmindex mkinstalldirs
 This script used to be a wrapper around @samp{mkdir -p}, which is not
 portable.  Now we prefer to use @samp{install-sh -d} when @command{configure}
 finds that @samp{mkdir -p} does not work, this makes one less script to
@@ -2312,19 +2321,26 @@ distributed when @command{automake} finds it in a package.  But it is no
 longer installed automatically, and it should be safe to remove it.

 @item py-compile
+@cmindex py-compile
 This is used to byte-compile Python scripts.

 @item test-driver
+@cmindex test-driver
 This implements the default test driver offered by the parallel
 testsuite harness.

 @item texinfo.tex
-Not a program, this file is required for @samp{make dvi}, @samp{make
-ps} and @samp{make pdf} to work when Texinfo sources are in the
-package.  The latest version can be downloaded from
-@url{https://www.gnu.org/software/texinfo/}.
+@cmindex texinfo.tex
+When Texinfo sources are in the package, this file is required for
+@samp{make dvi}, @samp{make ps} and @samp{make pdf}. The latest
+version can be downloaded from
+@url{https://www.gnu.org/software/texinfo/}.  A working @TeX{}
+distribution, or at least a @file{tex} program, is also required.
+Furthermore, @samp{make dist} invokes @samp{make dvi}, so these become
+requirements for making a distribution with Texinfo sources.

 @item ylwrap
+@cmindex ylwrap
 This program wraps @command{lex} and @command{yacc} to rename their
 output files.  It also ensures that, for instance, multiple
 @command{yacc} instances can be invoked in a single directory in

compile finished at Thu May  7 18:25:45 2020