Installing from Git repository failed and problems with documentation formats

[Laurence Finston]

Hello,

I was able to install mdk 1.3.0 from the tarball.  I was not able to install 
MDK from the current version in the Git repository.  This is the protocol:

$ git clone git://git.sv.gnu.org/mdk.git

$ cd mdk/

$ aclocal

$ autoconf

$ autoheader

Successful up to here.

$ automake --add-missing --copy

configure.ac:52: warning: AC_COMPILE_IFELSE was called before 
AC_USE_SYSTEM_EXTENSIONS
configure.ac:52: warning: AC_RUN_IFELSE was called before 
AC_USE_SYSTEM_EXTENSIONS
configure.ac:52: error: required file './config.rpath' not found
configure.ac:159: error: required file 'intl/Makefile.in' not found
configure.ac:52: error: required file './ABOUT-NLS' not found

The only file in [...]/mdk/intl is `.gitignore' (i.e., no `Makefile.am').

I wanted to generate the manual in PDF format.  Using the dist. from the 
tarball, I got this error:

$ make gendocs
(cd ../doc && \
         ./gendocs.sh --email bug-mdk@gnu.org mdk 'GNU MDK Users Manual')
/bin/bash: line 1: ./gendocs.sh: No such file or directory
make: *** [Makefile:989: gendocs] Error 127

Using the installation from the Git repository, I was able to generate 
`gendocs' but then I got this error:

$ gendocs
./gendocs: cannot find .texinfo or .texi or .txi for  in 
/home/laurence/mdk_local/git_repos/mdk/doc.

I just used `texi2dvi mdk.tex' and `dvipdfmx mdk.dvi' to generate the PDF file. 
 The following aren't bugs, but I then had to print to a file to get it into 
DIN A4 format and had to look for the page numbers to eliminate the blank page 
at the end and the COPYING section.  Obviously, the COPYING section is needed 
but I think it would be a convenience to indicate how to eliminate it for 
printing purposes.  I don't do this yet for my manuals, but I plan to.

I do think it's important, however, to provide documentation in PDF format from 
the point of view of accessibility for people who, like me, have problems 
reading on computer screens.  If you don't want to do that, it would be nice if 
you would consider at least providing rules for this in 
`[...]/doc/Makefile.am', because not everybody knows how to use Texinfo.

Thanks.

Laurence Finston