[issue8254] write a configure command

[Éric Araujo]

Éric Araujo <merwok at netwok.org> added the comment:

4Suite’s DistExt has a config command similar to the new Distutils2 configure command described in this bug report. The Distutils config command is an unfinished command with use similar to autotools configure scripts. From the module docstring:

“a (mostly) empty command class that exists mainly to be sub-classed by specific module distributions and applications.  The idea is that while every "config" command is different, at least they're all named the same, and users always see "config" in the list of standard commands.  Also, this is a good place to put common configure-like tasks: "try to compile this C code", or "figure out where this header file lives"”.

The module has seen 26 commits in 10 years. I find the name clash confusing too for end users and wanted to bring the issue later. If I understand autotools correctly, it encompasses both config and configure commands. Since there are no conflicts in options or functionality (config.run is a no-op, configure.run writes a file), I think dropping config or merging it with configure would make a lot of sense. But first things first, configure needs to be reviewed and accepted (5 open questions :) and then I’ll propose a merge into a unified config command (short names win).

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Python tracker <report at bugs.python.org>
<http://bugs.python.org/issue8254>
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