The GNU autotools programs (autoconf, automake and libtool), which are used for making software portable between Unix-like operating systems, have been around for more than fifteen years now, but their use is still regarded by many programmers to be a dark art. It's fair to say that they aren't the most straightforward tools to become accustomed to, and their awkwardness has spawned the creation of at least one
competing build system.
Nevertheless, as far as open-source software goes, autoconf and automake are still the main game in town, and for anyone who wants to hack around in this area, becoming familiar with these tools is essential.
This series of tutorials is designed to provide an introduction to these tools by way of simple examples.