1 The following packages are needed by maintainers for using
2 'gnulib-tool'. In general, Gnulib prefers the latest stable
3 version of each package, but in some cases it also supports
4 older versions; this caters to commonly-used software
5 distributions that may lag behind the latest stable package.
6 Support for older versions is not guaranteed, though, and
7 the version numbers in the following list may be incremented
10 * A C runtime, compiler, linker, etc.
11 + Mandatory. Using the platform's native 'cc' gives good portability
12 exposure, but you can also use GCC 3.1 or newer.
16 https://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/gcc/
19 + Mandatory. Using the platform's native 'make' gives good portability
20 exposure for in-tree builds, but VPATH builds require GNU Make 3.79.1 or
23 https://www.gnu.org/software/make/
25 https://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/make/
27 * GNU M4 1.4.5 or newer.
29 1.4.5 or newer is mandatory, but 1.4.9 or newer is recommended.
30 If you want to build it from source, use the tarball from
31 https://gitlab.com/gnu-m4/ci-distcheck/-/jobs/artifacts/master/raw/m4-snapshot.tar?job=check-optimized
33 https://www.gnu.org/software/m4/
35 https://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/m4/
37 * Autoconf 2.64 or newer.
40 https://www.gnu.org/software/autoconf/
42 https://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/autoconf/
44 * Automake 1.14 or newer.
47 https://www.gnu.org/software/automake/
49 https://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/automake/
52 + Mandatory. Using the platform's native 'sh' gives good portability
53 exposure, but you can also use Bash.
55 https://www.gnu.org/software/bash/
57 https://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/bash/
59 * Core POSIX utilities, including:
60 [ basename cat chgrp chmod chown cp dd echo expand expr
61 false hostname install join kill ln ls md5sum mkdir mkfifo
62 mknod mv printenv pwd rm rmdir sleep sort tee test touch
64 + Mandatory. Using the platform's native utilities gives good portability
65 exposure, but you can also use GNU coreutils.
67 https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/
69 https://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/coreutils/
71 * The comparison utilities 'cmp' and 'diff'.
72 + Mandatory. Using the platform's native utilities gives good portability
73 exposure, but you can also use GNU diffutils.
75 https://www.gnu.org/software/diffutils/
77 https://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/diffutils/
79 * The patch utility 'patch'.
80 + Mandatory if you use gnulib-local diffs. Using the platform's native
81 utilities gives good portability exposure, but you can also use GNU
84 https://www.gnu.org/software/patch/
86 https://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/patch/
89 + Mandatory. Using the platform's native grep gives good portability
90 exposure, but you can also use GNU grep.
92 https://www.gnu.org/software/grep/
94 https://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/grep/
98 Using the platform's native awk, mawk, or nawk gives good portability
99 exposure, but you can also use GNU awk.
101 https://www.gnu.org/software/gawk/
103 https://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/gawk/
105 * Python 3.7 or newer.
107 Without it, gnulib-tool is between 8 times and 100 times slower and may lack
108 functionality added after April 2024.
110 https://www.python.org/
112 https://www.python.org/downloads/
113 + Pre-built package name:
114 - On Debian and Debian-based systems: python3,
115 - On Red Hat distributions: python3.
116 - Other: https://repology.org/project/python/versions
119 + If your project wants to follow GNU Coding Standards:
120 + Always use the newest available gettext release, see
121 <https://www.gnu.org/software/gnulib/manual/html_node/gettextize-and-autopoint.html>.
122 + Use the 'gettext' module.
123 + If your project cares more about ease of development on older platforms:
124 + gettext 0.17 or newer.
125 + Use the 'gettext-h' module.
127 Needed if you use modules that use internationalization (many do).
129 https://www.gnu.org/software/gettext/
131 https://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/gettext/
132 + Pre-built package name:
133 - On Debian and Debian-based systems: gettext,
134 - On Red Hat distributions: gettext.
135 - Other: https://repology.org/project/gettext/versions
137 * Bison 2.0 or newer.
139 Needed if you use the 'parse-datetime' module.
141 https://www.gnu.org/software/bison/
143 https://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/bison/
144 + Pre-built package name:
145 - On Debian and Debian-based systems: bison,
146 - On Red Hat distributions: bison.
147 - Other: https://repology.org/project/bison/versions
149 * GNU gperf 3.0.1 or newer.
150 + 3.0.1 or newer is mandatory, but 3.1 or newer is recommended.
151 Needed if you use the 'iconv_open' module or some of the
152 unictype/*, unicase/*, uninorm/* modules.
154 https://www.gnu.org/software/gperf/
156 https://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/gperf/
157 + Pre-built package name:
158 - On Debian and Debian-based systems: gperf,
159 - On Red Hat distributions: gperf.
160 - Other: https://repology.org/project/gperf/versions
162 * Texinfo 4.6 or newer.
164 Needed if you use modules that include documentation.
166 https://www.gnu.org/software/texinfo/
168 https://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/texinfo/
169 + Pre-built package name:
170 - On Debian and Debian-based systems: texinfo,
171 - On Red Hat distributions: texinfo.
172 - Other: https://repology.org/project/texinfo/versions
176 Needed on platforms where the vendor's 'sed' program is too buggy.
178 https://www.gnu.org/software/sed/
180 https://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/sed/
182 * GNU libtool 1.5.22 or newer.
184 Needed if you want to invoke gnulib-tool with option --libtool.
185 libtool 2.2.x or newer is needed if you want to invoke gnulib-tool
186 with options --create-testdir/--test and --libtool.
188 https://www.gnu.org/software/libtool/
190 https://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/libtool/
192 * GNU tar 1.28 or newer.
194 Needed if you use the 'gnumakefile' module, which sets TAR_OPTIONS
195 to --sort=names (added in version 1.28) in GNUmakefile for 'make dist'.
197 https://www.gnu.org/software/tar/
199 https://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/tar/
202 Prerequisites needed on specific platforms
203 ==========================================
205 Prerequisites on Windows
206 ------------------------
210 Provides a POSIX-like environment and binary packages necessary to
211 build and run software. Native Windows binaries can be built with
212 a packaged mingw tool chain. This method is preferred over MSYS2.
216 https://cygwin.com/install.html