Re: Procedure of modification of autoconf scripts

If you see massive changes in the configure script after a localized
change in configure.ac, it probably means that you're not using the
right autoconf version.

Our project convention is to use exactly the GNU release of whichever
version of autoconf we're on (currently 2.69).  A lot of vendors ship
modified-to-some-extent autoconf versions, which can result in these
sorts of unwanted changes if you just use whatever is on your
operating system.  Grab the official release off a GNU mirror and
install it somewhere handy, and use that.

As a test case, try running autoconf and autoheader *without*
having changed the input files.  If the outputs don't match
what's in git, then you've got something to fix.

                        regards, tom lane