I'd like to help with the C++ section of AC archive

[Alexander Konovalenko]

Hello,

A long time ago I offered Peter Simons my assistance with the C++ section of 
the GNU autoconf macro archive.  Now it seems that I've got enough free time 
finally.

This is a draft to-do list of what I would like to do: 

 - Add enough macro meta-information for proper copyright notices, see (*) 
below.

 - Replace obsolete autoconf constructs in the macros for C++ with their newer 
versions.

 - Unify coding style of the macros for C++ checks. 

 - Test the macros along with some non-trivial C++ code on several platforms 
and fix bugs, enhance existing macros, and add new ones based the testing 
experience.  I haven't yet examined the Boost portability framework, but I 
think it may inspire some progress here, too.

Please notice that I'm far from an autoconf expert or anything, so my work 
needs to be criticized and tested as much as possible.


(*) Legal

As far as I understand, maintainers of GNU software are required to keep proper 
copyright notices on each file.  According to the guidelines, a copyright 
notice must include a list of years when any released ancestor version of the 
current version was completed.

Currently each meta-info for each macro contains just a last-modified date and 
the name of the author, which is not enough to write such copyright notices.  
(The small size of the macros is not an excuse for fixing copyright issues, 
because if one uses several macros simultaneously they add up to be significant 
from the point of view of the copyright law.)

I propose adding the above information to the meta-info of each macro.  Peter, 
is it easy for you to extend your macro meta-info format so that each macro can 
include a list of authors, and for each author - a list of years?  I can also 
write a request for the required information with a short explanation of the 
issue, which we'll be able to send to all the contributors of the archive.


Any comments are welcome.

  Regards,
    Alexander Konovalenko.