autoconf: Gnulib

1 
1 2.2 Gnulib
1 ==========
1 
1 GNU software has a well-deserved reputation for running on many
1 different types of systems.  While our primary goal is to write
1 software for the GNU system, many users and developers have been
1 introduced to us through the systems that they were already using.
1 
1    Gnulib is a central location for common GNU code, intended to be
1 shared among free software packages.  Its components are typically
1 shared at the source level, rather than being a library that gets built,
1 installed, and linked against.  The idea is to copy files from Gnulib
1 into your own source tree.  There is no distribution tarball; developers
1 should just grab source modules from the repository.  The source files
1 are available online, under various licenses, mostly GNU GPL or GNU
1 LGPL.
1 
1    Gnulib modules typically contain C source code along with Autoconf
1 macros used to configure the source code.  For example, the Gnulib
1 `stdbool' module implements a `stdbool.h' header that nearly conforms
1 to C99, even on old-fashioned hosts that lack `stdbool.h'.  This module
1 contains a source file for the replacement header, along with an
1 Autoconf macro that arranges to use the replacement header on
1 old-fashioned systems.
1