[SCM] GNU Autoconf source repository branch, master, updated. v2.64-60-g97b5046

This is an automated email from the git hooks/post-receive script. It was
generated because a ref change was pushed to the repository containing
the project "GNU Autoconf source repository".

http://git.sv.gnu.org/gitweb/?p=autoconf.git;a=commitdiff;h=97b5046ccd87c8b674d16b16f561821cf8345c26

The branch, master has been updated
       via  97b5046ccd87c8b674d16b16f561821cf8345c26 (commit)
      from  c60a1fdb4c00910a8c2a6fb91610ca593912cb5c (commit)

Those revisions listed above that are new to this repository have
not appeared on any other notification email; so we list those
revisions in full, below.

- Log -----------------------------------------------------------------
commit 97b5046ccd87c8b674d16b16f561821cf8345c26
Author: Eric Blake <[email protected]>
Date:   Thu Oct 15 07:00:38 2009 -0600

    Improve INSTALL wording.
    
    * doc/install.texi (Basic Installation): Clarify installcheck
    behavior.
    (Installation Names): Mention that --prefix only overrides
    directory locations not specified on the command line.  Prefer
    /alternate/directory over /path/to.  Remove a sentence targeted to
    the developer, not the user.
    * THANKS: Update.
    Suggested by Alfred M. Szmidt.
    
    Signed-off-by: Eric Blake <[email protected]>

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Summary of changes:
 ChangeLog        |   12 ++++++++++++
 THANKS           |    1 +
 doc/install.texi |   31 ++++++++++++++++---------------
 3 files changed, 29 insertions(+), 15 deletions(-)

diff --git a/ChangeLog b/ChangeLog
index 074546c..2cd033f 100644
--- a/ChangeLog
+++ b/ChangeLog
@@ -1,3 +1,15 @@
+2009-10-15  Eric Blake  <[email protected]>
+
+	Improve INSTALL wording.
+	* doc/install.texi (Basic Installation): Clarify installcheck
+	behavior.
+	(Installation Names): Mention that --prefix only overrides
+	directory locations not specified on the command line.  Prefer
+	/alternate/directory over /path/to.  Remove a sentence targeted to
+	the developer, not the user.
+	* THANKS: Update.
+	Suggested by Alfred M. Szmidt.
+
 2009-10-15  Peter Breitenlohner  <[email protected]>
 
 	Fix typos in documentation.
diff --git a/THANKS b/THANKS
index ba239ca..5ecd953 100644
--- a/THANKS
+++ b/THANKS
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ Alexandre Duret-Lutz        [email protected]
 Alexandre Julliard          ?
 Alexandre Oliva             [email protected]
 Alfred G. de Wijn           [email protected]
+Alfred M. Szmidt            [email protected]
 Allan Caffee                [email protected]
 Andreas Buening             [email protected]
 Andreas Jaeger              [email protected]
diff --git a/doc/install.texi b/doc/install.texi
index 4f3301f..5ce59eb 100644
--- a/doc/install.texi
+++ b/doc/install.texi
@@ -84,7 +84,10 @@ and only the @samp{make install} phase executed with root privileges.
 
 @item
 Optionally, type @samp{make installcheck} to repeat any self-tests, but
-this time using the binaries in their final installed location.
+this time using the binaries in their final installed location.  This
+target does not install anything.  Running this target as a regular
+user, particlarly if the prior @samp{make install} required root
+privileges, verifies that the installation completed correctly.
 
 @item
 You can remove the program binaries and object files from the source
@@ -169,7 +172,7 @@ By default, @samp{make install} installs the package's commands under
 You can specify an
 installation prefix other than @file{/usr/local} by giving
 @command{configure} the option @option{--prefix=@var{prefix}}, where
-@var{prefix} must be an absolute path.
+@var{prefix} must be an absolute file name.
 
 You can specify separate installation prefixes for architecture-specific
 files and architecture-independent files.  If you pass the option
@@ -184,7 +187,8 @@ particular kinds of files.  Run @samp{configure --help} for a list of
 the directories you can set and what kinds of files go in them.  In
 general, the default for these options is expressed in terms of
 @samp{$@{prefix@}}, so that specifying just @option{--prefix} will
-affect all of the other directory specifications.
+affect all of the other directory specifications that were not
+explicitly provided.
 
 The most portable way to affect installation locations is to pass the
 correct locations to @command{configure}; however, many packages provide
@@ -194,12 +198,12 @@ without having to reconfigure or recompile.
 
 The first method involves providing an override variable for each
 affected directory.  For example, @samp{make install
-prefix=/path/to/alternate} will choose an alternate location, as well as
-influencing all other directory configuration variables that were
-expressed in terms of @samp{$@{prefix@}} (or, put another way, all
-directories specified during @command{configure} but not in terms of the
-common prefix must each be overridden at install time for the entire
-installation to be relocated).  The approach of makefile variable
+prefix=/alternate/directory} will choose an alternate location for all
+directory configuration variables that were expressed in terms of
+@samp{$@{prefix@}}.  Any directories that were specified during
+@command{configure}, but not in terms of the common prefix, must each be
+overridden at install time for the entire
+installation to be relocated.  The approach of makefile variable
 overrides for each directory variable is required by the @acronym{GNU}
 Coding Standards, and ideally causes no recompilation.  However, some
 platforms have known limitations with the semantics of shared libraries
@@ -207,16 +211,13 @@ that end up requiring recompilation when using this method, particularly
 noticeable in packages that use @acronym{GNU} Libtool.
 
 The second method involves providing the @samp{DESTDIR} variable.  For
-example, @samp{make install DESTDIR=/path/to/alternate} will prepend
-@samp{/path/to/alternate} before all installation paths.  The approach
+example, @samp{make install DESTDIR=/alternate/directory} will prepend
+@samp{/alternate/directory} before all installation names.  The approach
 of @samp{DESTDIR} overrides is not required by the @acronym{GNU} Coding
 Standards, and does not work on platforms that have drive letters.  On
 the other hand, it does better at avoiding recompilation issues, and
 works well even when some directory options were not specified in terms
-of @samp{$@{prefix@}} at @command{configure} time.  For packages which
-support @samp{DESTDIR}, the variable should remain undefined during
-@command{configure} and @samp{make all}, and only be specified during
-@samp{make install}.
+of @samp{$@{prefix@}} at @command{configure} time.
 
 @node Optional Features
 @section Optional Features


hooks/post-receive
-- 
GNU Autoconf source repository