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Automake requires that the following "standard" files exist in the source directory of my project:

  • INSTALL
  • NEWS
  • README
  • COPYING
  • AUTHORS
  • ChangeLog

Obviously, none of these files are necessary for a program to build, but Automake refuses to run without them. I know about the --add-missing flag that will cause boilerplate files to be generated, but I would rather not have the files at all.

Is there a way to force Automake to run and ignore the missing files without generating them?

user35147863
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1 Answers1

18

Use the foreign option. Look up "strictness" in the documentation.

umläute
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Tom Tromey
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    For clarity, one simple way to use that option is to use this in `configure.ac`: `AM_INIT_AUTOMAKE([foreign])` – William Pursell Aug 04 '13 at 02:29
  • OMG! All this time I've just been using an `autogen.sh` script that creates dummies to shut the damn thing up, thank you! =D I use autotools on proprietary stuff as well, and these files aren't necessarily appropriate in such projects. – Daniel Santos May 15 '19 at 14:25