Re: [TCLCORE] [Tcl-bugs] tcl-cvs: "tcl/unix configure.in" modified

[Joe E. <jen...@fl...>]

Donald G Porter wrote:
> Jan Nijtmans wrote:
>> Are there other arguments pro or contra specific autoconf versions?
>
> Some version post 2.59 has changed the default mandir, which changes
> the default place where Tcl installs man pages.

See: http://www.gnu.org/software/autoconf/manual/html_node/Changed-Directory-Variables.html

It was changed to match the FHS standard, which specifies
that manpages go under /usr/share/man instead of the traditional
/usr/man.  (I don't know when FHS started gaining widespread
adoption, but from a quick look at the 1997 vintage Unices I still
have available it looks like the move from /usr/man to /usr/share/man
had started by then).

Donal K. Fellows asked:
>
> (Rhetorical question: Why doesn't autoconf provide a way to configure
> what the default @datarootdir@ is?)

You can specify --datarootdir at configure-time:
"sh ./configure --datarootdir=...".

Default is ${prefix}/share; ${prefix} in turn can be
specified with "--prefix=...", and defaults to /usr/local.
You can also specify a different --mandir (defaults
to ${datarootdir}/man == ${prefix}/share/man).

Many Unices replace or augment Tcl's `make install-manpages`
rules anyway to account for local conventions.
Debian for instance installs a gzipped soelim'ed copy of
tcl/doc/$foo.n in /usr/share/man/man3/foo.3tcl.gz;
IRIX stores a preformatted pack(1)ed copy in
/usr/share/catman/u_man/cat3/Tcl/[string tolower $foo].z.



--Joe English