[ros-kernel] Would it be feasible to use automake/autoconf?

[KJK::Hyperion]

At 17.52 28/12/2003, you wrote:
>I just discovered the ROS project and I was very excited to start playing 
>with it, but compiling the source was messy and unpleasant.

just wait until you try to code for it!

>I wonder if it's feasible to get the ROS source using automake/autoconf so 
>it can have a traditional ./configure script.

over my cold, dead body, thanks

>Assuming it's done with the proper care, it would vastly increase the 
>simplicity of the compilation process..

no no no, the compilation process is already the simplest I've ever seen. 
Don't fix what's not broken. A better build system, that's what we really 
need. Someone proposed Jam (you may have seen some experimental Jamfiles), 
but I've personally come to learn and love Microsoft Build (if it's good 
enough for Windows, it must be good enough for ReactOS too, right?). But 
that's another question

>(and goodness knows how many developers out there wern't as patient as I, 
>and simply left the project before even joining)

ReactOS, in the pre-MinGW era, used to be built with DJGPP. Consider 
yourself lucky to have approached ReactOS in this relatively young age of 
honey and milk and fat cows

>Would such a scheme cause problems for developing under windows?

endless problems. We wouldn't be able to claim that ReactOS is self-hosted 
anymore, to name one