Updating top-level autoconf to 2.59

[Michael Eager]

Erik Christiansen wrote:

> If neither --host nor --target are specified, we're building native.

OK

> If both --target and --host default to native, then specifying one or
> both creates a single or double cross. 

OK

But autoconf doesn't seem to distinguish between --host or --build
being specified explicitly and when it guesses what they should be.

> --build seems to be a synonym for --host, so its only useful purpose
> that I've imagined so far is to specify a native build if configure
> fails to detect that to the user's satisfaction. (And that could be done
> with --host, if that did not spuriously trigger a cross.)

I've built compilers for Cywin on Linux:
--host=i686-cygwin --build=i686-linux-gnu --target=powerpc.
I might also build --host=i686-Solaris on --build=i686-linux-gnu

> (If there's a need to build a native compiler as if it were a cross,
> then --host and --target would only need to be specified as native.)
> 
> More guessing than that wouldn't help this cross compiler builder.
> (On PowerPc, AVR, and V850, the required fudges haven't been too bad so
> far, IIRC. But then I'm a few tool releases behind.)

Unfortunately, it seems that every time I update or upgrade my
system, it installs newer versions of autoconf and automake.  I
don't notice that this has broken things until I try to make a
configuration change.  Then I'm off down a rat hole trying to debug
autoconf once more.

-- 
Michael Eager	 eager@eagercon.com
1960 Park Blvd., Palo Alto, CA 94306  650-325-8077