Re: lua help build, autotools update

[Daniel J S. <dan...@ie...>]

On 11/15/2014 05:02 AM, Hans-Bernhard Bröker wrote:

> As an aside, I propose to upgrade the entire auto-tools configuration to
> current versions (autoconf 2.69, automake 1.14).  Some of our automake
> support scripts are almost a decade out of date...  This I will only
> check in after some discussion.

If it is a minor change.  My system is about three years old with a few 
minor upgrades and has autoconf 2.66, automake 1.11.1.  The only 
reluctance would be if any tools require the builder (common user, not 
bundle maintainer) to upgrade.  Building gnuplot is pretty easy and any 
minor additional work might be a barrier for some.

Philipp asked about moving forward with gnuplot.  What I could imagine 
is maybe next summer attempting an overhaul of the code with a recent 
autoconf/vcs(git or hg)/compiler(C++) and better internal organization. 
  What currently exists, 5.0 series, could be a stable platform until 
the upgrade becomes stable, which might even be a couple years away from 
starting the effort.  For those who haven't used git or hg, I'm certain 
they'll be happy to be done with CVS and maintaining the Changelog file. 
  Changelogs will be part of the "changeset", written by whomever 
creates the changeset (just follow the defined format).  It's much 
easier to browse through changes in git and hg, create changeset, etc.

It depends on how much new features we expect to add.  I can think of a few:

* True hidden surface code.  (I've had in mind for a while to generalize 
the hidden line segment code to hidden triangle surfaces.)
* WXT terminal as outboard driver.
* Arrays of plots (data retention) rather than "multiplot".
* An interactive terminal?  That's been attempted (but not gotten very 
far) going back twenty years.  I've never been real motivated on this 
one because it doesn't fit my method of working with data.  I prefer to 
do plotting as commands, not sculpture.
* New plot types, as always.
* Better integration with other programs using emerging trends (say SQL 
or something).

Is that enough to justify an overhaul?  Don't know.

Dan