File: autoconf.info,  Node: The GNU Build System,  Next: Making configure Scripts,  Prev: Introduction,  Up: Top

2 The GNU Build System
**********************

Autoconf solves an important problem—reliable discovery of
system-specific build and runtime information—but this is only one piece
of the puzzle for the development of portable software.  To this end,
the GNU project has developed a suite of integrated utilities to finish
the job Autoconf started: the GNU build system, whose most important
components are Autoconf, Automake, and Libtool.  In this chapter, we
introduce you to those tools, point you to sources of more information,
and try to convince you to use the entire GNU build system for your
software.

* Menu:

* Automake::                    Escaping makefile hell
* Gnulib::                      The GNU portability library
* Libtool::                     Building libraries portably
* Pointers::                    More info on the GNU build system