bug#7673: Bad option precedence: AM_AUTOMAKE_INIT and AUTOMAKE_OPTIONS might win over command line

[Ralf Wildenhues]

* Stefano Lattarini wrote on Sat, Dec 18, 2010 at 03:12:17PM CET:
> Currently, the strictness-related options specified with AM_INIT_AUTOMAKE
> in configure.ac and with AUTOMAKE_OPTIONS in Makefile.am win over those
> specified on the command line:

> While this behaviour might have had its historical reasons,

The question is, what reasons?

> I think its
> confusing, suboptimal, and inconsistent with that of pratically all the
> sane Unix and GNU programs.

I agree.

> The right precedence for *every* option would IMHO be:
> 
>  "command line" wins over AUTOMAKE_OPTIONS wins over AM_INIT_AUTOMAKE

Somebody needs to find out why the choices were done, and what breaks,
when we change this.  I remember that there were good reasons for this,
but I all but forgot the details.

Cheers,
Ralf