GNU sather build system

Hello,

I am writing you about the GNU Sather project,
as part of my effort to help GNU projects provide a better, more
consistent build system.

Currently, your project provides a build system that is not compatible
with GNU policies (as described in the GNU coding standards, and in 
the autoconf, make and automake manuals).
Versions sather-1.2.2 and sather-1.3-beta7 have been checked.

At the end of the day, users and programs should be able to build and
install the package just like all other GNU projects running:

$ ./configure [--prefix=]
$ make
$ make install [DESTDIR=]

DESTDIR support is marked as optional in the GNU coding standards,
but in my opinion, DESTDIR can be very helpful for the user, the
distribution-specific packagers and third-party programs, because it
offers a consistent and portable way to perform staged installations.

Some links for additional information:

GNU Coding Standards [the only one which is really a necessary read]
http://www.gnu.org/prep/standards/

GNU autoconf manual [could help]
http://www.gnu.org/software/autoconf/manual/autoconf-2.57/html_mono/autoconf.html

GNU make manual [could help]
http://www.gnu.org/software/make/

GNU automake manual [could help]
http://www.gnu.org/software/automake/manual/

In each case, please contact me at this address <[email protected]>
to provide your feedback about this issue.
I am ready to offer you information, help and support.

Thank you for your help in making GNU projects build systems better.

Claudio Fontana