Timestamps in distribution tarballs are broken

[Paul Smith]

Hi all;

I think there's something wrong with the way binutils distribution
tarballs are created.  When I download and unpack them (tried 2.21.1 /
2.21.1a for example), the configure.ac files are newer than the
configure scripts.  This means when you try to run "make", it wants to
rebuild the configure script and this fails unless you have exactly the
right version of autoconf, etc. already installed on your system.

You shouldn't need to have ANY version of autoconf (etc.) much less a
particular version, in order to build the package from the distribution
tarball.

I'm not sure what's causing this problem but it would be great if
someone could look into it and ensure that the timestamps are correct
before shipping a new release.

If you use automake's built-in dist (or distcheck) targets, you should
never see this problem unless there's something in the makefile itself
which updates configure.ac (which would be not good).

Thanks!

-- 
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Paul D. Smith <psmith@gnu.org>          Find some GNU make tips at:
 http://www.gnu.org                      http://make.mad-scientist.net
 "Please remain calm...I may be mad, but I am a professional." --Mad Scientist