autotools help

Hello,

I have developed a program that uses two additional libraries not usually found in linux systems. Since I am using my own linux machine, I have root access and can install these in the standard directories. However, when I want to compile/run this program in a linux cluster which I have no root access, I need to install these libraries in my home directory. In order to move between the two systems, I have written two makefiles for each system. To complicate things even more, one of the libraries ends up with a different file name between the two systems. Therefore the two makefiles I have written are looking in different directories for the headers and libraries, and are also linking the library that its file name is different between the two systems.

I would like to start using autotools so that there is a single makefile, but because I have never used autotools before, I have no idea where to start to read/learn so that I can create something for my needs. I have read basic tutorials, but none give examples which might be useful for me. Does anyone have any information or suggestions on how to go on about this?

Thanks,
Spiros

Hello,

I for myself started to use the autotools few months ago, and I've been reading that book that I found quite nice : Autotools : a practitioner's guide to GNU Autoconf, Automake, and Libtool / by John Calcote. You don't have to read it from the beginning to the end, you can just focus on what you need.
Another thing that I did was to take a look at the configure.ac and makefile.am files of different open source project (for me avahi and libmicrohttpd), and it gave me a lot of good ideas.

I hope this helps!