[patch] use python-config if available

[Joel Brobecker]

> cross building in a multiarch environment, where the host libraries
> are installed, and a <host>-python-config is shipped as part of the
> system python.  This <host>-python-config is a backport of
> http://bugs.python.org/issue16235 (not yet applied upstream).

Ah, OK. Now I understand your problem.

> so what is your recommendation? configure.ac reads:
> 
> dnl /path/to/python/executable -
> dnl        Run python-config.py with this version of python to fetch the
> dnl        compilation parameters.
> dnl        NOTE: This needn't be the real python executable.
> dnl        In a cross-compilation scenario (build != host), this could be
> dnl        a shell script that provides what python-config.py provides for
> dnl        --ldflags, --includes, --exec-prefix.
> 
> do I really have to provide a shell script, which shifts the first
> parameter, and then calls the real python-config?

I think that this was the plan, yes; but Doug Evans would probably
know more, as he is the main author of this code (I only fiddled
with it).

-- 
Joel