4 You'll find below the generic build and installation instructions for
5 an autotools package, which Geiser happens to be. As you know, they can be
8 mkdir build && cd build
13 And, in our case, we'll need to tell emacs about this new little
16 (require 'geiser-install)
18 in your moral equivalent to ~/.emacs.
20 As explained in the README file, Geiser is also directly usable from
21 its source tree, with no configuration whatsoever. Read that README to
24 As promised, here you have the gory details of the autotools jazz,
25 which you can freely and safely skip on a first, second and third
28 Installation Instructions
29 *************************
31 Copyright (C) 1994, 1995, 1996, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2005,
32 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
34 This file is free documentation; the Free Software Foundation gives
35 unlimited permission to copy, distribute and modify it.
40 Briefly, the shell commands `./configure; make; make install' should
41 configure, build, and install this package. The following
42 more-detailed instructions are generic; see the `README' file for
43 instructions specific to this package.
45 The `configure' shell script attempts to guess correct values for
46 various system-dependent variables used during compilation. It uses
47 those values to create a `Makefile' in each directory of the package.
48 It may also create one or more `.h' files containing system-dependent
49 definitions. Finally, it creates a shell script `config.status' that
50 you can run in the future to recreate the current configuration, and a
51 file `config.log' containing compiler output (useful mainly for
52 debugging `configure').
54 It can also use an optional file (typically called `config.cache'
55 and enabled with `--cache-file=config.cache' or simply `-C') that saves
56 the results of its tests to speed up reconfiguring. Caching is
57 disabled by default to prevent problems with accidental use of stale
60 If you need to do unusual things to compile the package, please try
61 to figure out how `configure' could check whether to do them, and mail
62 diffs or instructions to the address given in the `README' so they can
63 be considered for the next release. If you are using the cache, and at
64 some point `config.cache' contains results you don't want to keep, you
65 may remove or edit it.
67 The file `configure.ac' (or `configure.in') is used to create
68 `configure' by a program called `autoconf'. You need `configure.ac' if
69 you want to change it or regenerate `configure' using a newer version
72 The simplest way to compile this package is:
74 1. `cd' to the directory containing the package's source code and type
75 `./configure' to configure the package for your system.
77 Running `configure' might take a while. While running, it prints
78 some messages telling which features it is checking for.
80 2. Type `make' to compile the package.
82 3. Optionally, type `make check' to run any self-tests that come with
85 4. Type `make install' to install the programs and any data files and
88 5. You can remove the program binaries and object files from the
89 source code directory by typing `make clean'. To also remove the
90 files that `configure' created (so you can compile the package for
91 a different kind of computer), type `make distclean'. There is
92 also a `make maintainer-clean' target, but that is intended mainly
93 for the package's developers. If you use it, you may have to get
94 all sorts of other programs in order to regenerate files that came
95 with the distribution.
97 6. Often, you can also type `make uninstall' to remove the installed
100 Compilers and Options
101 =====================
103 Some systems require unusual options for compilation or linking that
104 the `configure' script does not know about. Run `./configure --help'
105 for details on some of the pertinent environment variables.
107 You can give `configure' initial values for configuration parameters
108 by setting variables in the command line or in the environment. Here
111 ./configure CC=c99 CFLAGS=-g LIBS=-lposix
113 *Note Defining Variables::, for more details.
115 Compiling For Multiple Architectures
116 ====================================
118 You can compile the package for more than one kind of computer at the
119 same time, by placing the object files for each architecture in their
120 own directory. To do this, you can use GNU `make'. `cd' to the
121 directory where you want the object files and executables to go and run
122 the `configure' script. `configure' automatically checks for the
123 source code in the directory that `configure' is in and in `..'.
125 With a non-GNU `make', it is safer to compile the package for one
126 architecture at a time in the source code directory. After you have
127 installed the package for one architecture, use `make distclean' before
128 reconfiguring for another architecture.
130 On MacOS X 10.5 and later systems, you can create libraries and
131 executables that work on multiple system types--known as "fat" or
132 "universal" binaries--by specifying multiple `-arch' options to the
133 compiler but only a single `-arch' option to the preprocessor. Like
136 ./configure CC="gcc -arch i386 -arch x86_64 -arch ppc -arch ppc64" \
137 CXX="g++ -arch i386 -arch x86_64 -arch ppc -arch ppc64" \
138 CPP="gcc -E" CXXCPP="g++ -E"
140 This is not guaranteed to produce working output in all cases, you
141 may have to build one architecture at a time and combine the results
142 using the `lipo' tool if you have problems.
147 By default, `make install' installs the package's commands under
148 `/usr/local/bin', include files under `/usr/local/include', etc. You
149 can specify an installation prefix other than `/usr/local' by giving
150 `configure' the option `--prefix=PREFIX'.
152 You can specify separate installation prefixes for
153 architecture-specific files and architecture-independent files. If you
154 pass the option `--exec-prefix=PREFIX' to `configure', the package uses
155 PREFIX as the prefix for installing programs and libraries.
156 Documentation and other data files still use the regular prefix.
158 In addition, if you use an unusual directory layout you can give
159 options like `--bindir=DIR' to specify different values for particular
160 kinds of files. Run `configure --help' for a list of the directories
161 you can set and what kinds of files go in them.
163 If the package supports it, you can cause programs to be installed
164 with an extra prefix or suffix on their names by giving `configure' the
165 option `--program-prefix=PREFIX' or `--program-suffix=SUFFIX'.
170 Some packages pay attention to `--enable-FEATURE' options to
171 `configure', where FEATURE indicates an optional part of the package.
172 They may also pay attention to `--with-PACKAGE' options, where PACKAGE
173 is something like `gnu-as' or `x' (for the X Window System). The
174 `README' should mention any `--enable-' and `--with-' options that the
177 For packages that use the X Window System, `configure' can usually
178 find the X include and library files automatically, but if it doesn't,
179 you can use the `configure' options `--x-includes=DIR' and
180 `--x-libraries=DIR' to specify their locations.
185 On HP-UX, the default C compiler is not ANSI C compatible. If GNU
186 CC is not installed, it is recommended to use the following options in
187 order to use an ANSI C compiler:
189 ./configure CC="cc -Ae"
191 and if that doesn't work, install pre-built binaries of GCC for HP-UX.
193 On OSF/1 a.k.a. Tru64, some versions of the default C compiler cannot
194 parse its `<wchar.h>' header file. The option `-nodtk' can be used as
195 a workaround. If GNU CC is not installed, it is therefore recommended
200 and if that doesn't work, try
202 ./configure CC="cc -nodtk"
204 Specifying the System Type
205 ==========================
207 There may be some features `configure' cannot figure out
208 automatically, but needs to determine by the type of machine the package
209 will run on. Usually, assuming the package is built to be run on the
210 _same_ architectures, `configure' can figure that out, but if it prints
211 a message saying it cannot guess the machine type, give it the
212 `--build=TYPE' option. TYPE can either be a short name for the system
213 type, such as `sun4', or a canonical name which has the form:
217 where SYSTEM can have one of these forms:
221 See the file `config.sub' for the possible values of each field. If
222 `config.sub' isn't included in this package, then this package doesn't
223 need to know the machine type.
225 If you are _building_ compiler tools for cross-compiling, you should
226 use the option `--target=TYPE' to select the type of system they will
229 If you want to _use_ a cross compiler, that generates code for a
230 platform different from the build platform, you should specify the
231 "host" platform (i.e., that on which the generated programs will
232 eventually be run) with `--host=TYPE'.
237 If you want to set default values for `configure' scripts to share,
238 you can create a site shell script called `config.site' that gives
239 default values for variables like `CC', `cache_file', and `prefix'.
240 `configure' looks for `PREFIX/share/config.site' if it exists, then
241 `PREFIX/etc/config.site' if it exists. Or, you can set the
242 `CONFIG_SITE' environment variable to the location of the site script.
243 A warning: not all `configure' scripts look for a site script.
248 Variables not defined in a site shell script can be set in the
249 environment passed to `configure'. However, some packages may run
250 configure again during the build, and the customized values of these
251 variables may be lost. In order to avoid this problem, you should set
252 them in the `configure' command line, using `VAR=value'. For example:
254 ./configure CC=/usr/local2/bin/gcc
256 causes the specified `gcc' to be used as the C compiler (unless it is
257 overridden in the site shell script).
259 Unfortunately, this technique does not work for `CONFIG_SHELL' due to
260 an Autoconf bug. Until the bug is fixed you can use this workaround:
262 CONFIG_SHELL=/bin/bash /bin/bash ./configure CONFIG_SHELL=/bin/bash
264 `configure' Invocation
265 ======================
267 `configure' recognizes the following options to control how it
272 Print a summary of all of the options to `configure', and exit.
276 Print a summary of the options unique to this package's
277 `configure', and exit. The `short' variant lists options used
278 only in the top level, while the `recursive' variant lists options
279 also present in any nested packages.
283 Print the version of Autoconf used to generate the `configure'
287 Enable the cache: use and save the results of the tests in FILE,
288 traditionally `config.cache'. FILE defaults to `/dev/null' to
293 Alias for `--cache-file=config.cache'.
298 Do not print messages saying which checks are being made. To
299 suppress all normal output, redirect it to `/dev/null' (any error
300 messages will still be shown).
303 Look for the package's source code in directory DIR. Usually
304 `configure' can determine that directory automatically.
307 Use DIR as the installation prefix. *Note Installation Names::
308 for more details, including other options available for fine-tuning
309 the installation locations.
313 Run the configure checks, but stop before creating any output
316 `configure' also accepts some other, not widely useful, options. Run
317 `configure --help' for more details.