Switch to CMake?

[metalefty]

Just starting a discussion.

The configure.ac script is a shell script. It grows as development progress. Actually, #1962 adds 51 lines to configure.ac.

Honestly, I like writing shell scripts but don't like maintaining shell scripts. Should we switch to CMake in long-term?

[hardening]

By cmake you mean meson I guess ;) ?

[matt335672]

I've not used cmake (or meson) for anything significant, so it's difficult for me to comment other than saying that any replacement will need to support very similar features (e.g.):-

• Available on our CI systems, including older Ubuntu (18.04) and FreeBSD
• Supports unit test framework with make check and make distcheck

I agree that autotools are fiddly, and may well deter developers used to something more modern.

@aquesnel - I get a feeling from somewhere you may have something useful to add to this discussion.

[eli-schwartz]

both cmake and meson should be available on your CI systems... Ubuntu 18.04 has cmake 3.10.2 and meson 0.45.1 but:

• meson explicitly supports Bionic by capping the minimum version of python and requiring all CI to pass on Bionic, so you can just pip install the latest version
• cmake is a compiled binary and the official site has standalone versions which are very compatible

regarding dist:

• I think there are some things you can do with cpack but I'm no expert.
• I do know (quite well) that meson dist is designed to work out of the box and provide the same familiar usefulness that autotools does, e.g. it is available by default without configuration, it will generate a tarball for you and then unpack that and run a full configure/build/test/install cycle on that. There is no split between make dist and make distcheck, just meson dist and pass --no-tests if you don't want the "check" part

Disclaimer: I loved meson enough to join the core development team, so obviously I am inclined to shill that. Please tell me if you'd like me to try selling you on it. :D

[aquesnel]

I don't have a strong opinion on one build tool vs another. I think that changing the build system will be a lot of work, and that picking a build system can easily become a "solution in search of a problem".

For me to be onboard with changing the build system I'd like to see a description of the problem the xrdp project is facing with autotools, as well as a list of requirements that autotools is fulfilling that we want to keep in the new build system. I think @matt335672 's list of requirements is a good place to start.

[hardening]

@eli-schwartz so fun to read you, as I had the same story as you: trying meson, loving it when using it on some projects, and finally pushing some improvements.