<html><head></head><body><div style="color:#000; background-color:#fff; font-family:HelveticaNeue, Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, Lucida Grande, sans-serif;font-size:16px"><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1462806181510_5454" dir="ltr">> what is "autotools" about in laymen terms?</div><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1462806181510_7765" dir="ltr"><br></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1462806181510_5881" dir="ltr">This is a decent overview:<br></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1462806181510_5823" dir="ltr"><br></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1462806181510_5880" dir="ltr"><a class="" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1462806181510_5453" href="http://www.gnu.org/software/automake/manual/html_node/Why-Autotools.html#Why-Autotools">http://voices.canonical.com/jussi.pakkanen/2011/09/13/autotools/</a></div><br><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1462806181510_5397"><span id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1462806181510_7766">Essentially it doubles down on a poorly designed system in order to</span></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1462806181510_7768" dir="ltr"><span id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1462806181510_7767">allow important features that the original system wasn't designed <br></span></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1462806181510_10216" dir="ltr"><span id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1462806181510_9477">to address. But it is widely used, mainly because there aren't any <br></span></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1462806181510_10215" dir="ltr"><span id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1462806181510_9477">better alternatives.</span></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1462806181510_10214" dir="ltr"><br><span id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1462806181510_9477"></span></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1462806181510_10213" dir="ltr"><span id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1462806181510_9477">-Jonathan<br></span></div></div></body></html>