Re: [Bug-gnuzilla] autoconf 2.13 not 2.69

[Mark H Weaver]

carl hansen <address@hidden> writes:

> On Fri, Sep 14, 2018 at 4:22 PM bill-auger <address@hidden> wrote:
>>
>> On Fri, 14 Sep 2018 11:38:03 -0700 carl wrote:
>> > What's the deal? autoconf up to date is 2.69, why should I have to
>> > reinstall old versions?
>>
>> one good reason would be because that is the version that will allow
>> this program to compile properly
>
> Well then, icecat should be changed to work with later autoconf.

We should keep in mind that IceCat is not a truly independent project,
but rather is a slightly modified version of Firefox ESR.  Every
modification made in IceCat compared with Firefox ESR carries with it a
maintenance cost.  If we makee significant changes to Firefox's build
system, then we will need to track upstream changes to its build system
much more closely, and adapt our modifications accordingly.

In this case, I don't see a compelling benefit to justify the increased
maintenance cost, which I suspect would be quite significant.

       Mark