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GNU Automake Reviews & Product Details

GNU is an operating system that is free software-that is, it respects users' freedom. The development of GNU made it possible to use a computer without software that would trample your freedom.

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GNU is an operating system that is free software-that is, it respects users' freedom. The development of GNU made it possible to use a computer without software that would trample your freedom.

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GNU Automake Reviews (11)

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Verified User in Internet

Enterprise (> 1000 emp.)

1/31/2019

"Awesome tool for configuring your makefiles on many machines"

5/5

What do you like best about GNU Automake?

I like that it provides a single tool to configure make systems across multiple platforms. It can be a real chore to get the variables setup to work right across different *nix flavors, let alone 32bit vs 64 bit and big vs little endian machines. This does all that for you. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about GNU Automake?

If your system doesn't work with autoconfigure it can take a fair amount of knowledge about your platform to get all the issues sorted out. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Recommendations to others considering GNU Automake:

If you are creating source code that uses make files for distribution this is a great way to make your software work on multiple systems. Much better then putting it out there with just your makefile. However there are lots of newer build platforms that more developers will be accustomed to using. Makefiles can be difficult for new users. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What problems is GNU Automake solving and how is that benefiting you?

Building opensource software that use makefiles from the source code . Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Verified User in Alternative Medicine

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

1/31/2019

"Who doesn't use Autotools? "

4/5

What do you like best about GNU Automake?

Open source software is important to me. When automating the process of building software, I consider it critical from a security/software integrity standpoint. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about GNU Automake?

Of course being open software, it is hard to get support on non-free operating systems like the latest version of Windows. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Recommendations to others considering GNU Automake:

For open source software it is the de-facto standard; as I said in the title of my review "who doesn't use Autotools?" If you don't already use Automake, I would first document your current software build process. I would do this even, or especially, if you think you already have it documented. What would it take for me, a programmer but not at your organization, to step in and go from code to end user product? Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What problems is GNU Automake solving and how is that benefiting you?

Automating building/compiling software. The benefit is not only in the speed/efficiency of the build process but also in the standardization of the process. It makes errors, or bugs, much easier to find and correct. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Andrew F.

Founder

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

2/3/2019

"GNU Make.. GCC's best friend "

5/5

What do you like best about GNU Automake?

As a Free Software Foundation Member and programmer with lots of experience I can say that Automake is the best software besides Emacs that GNU has to offer. the make commands are so easy to use and the autogenerated .make files make it all the better Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about GNU Automake?

Automake is hard to use if you don't have documentation on how to use it or have the documentation for the program you are compiling. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Morgan C.

Virtual CIO

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

1/31/2019

"Effective C build tool"

3.5/5

What do you like best about GNU Automake?

automake has a template system to build on numerous target systems. It is used for many *nix system components to build on a variety of distros and even target operating systems. It is a mature build system with widespread adoption. I would recommend it for new packages, especially in C. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about GNU Automake?

automake is not relevant to code in modern languages like python and go which have new ecosystems to distribute their packages. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Verified User in Health, Wellness and Fitness

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

1/31/2019

"GNU review"

4.5/5

What do you like best about GNU Automake?

It is free and is part of the GNU license which is nice. Also, it is able to provide single tools to configure make systems across many different platforms. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about GNU Automake?

Your own personal system may not work too well with it unless you have a ton of knowledge about it and how to figure it out on your own. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Verified User in Telecommunications

Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.)

7/24/2018

"Very good tool or executable for automatically generating makefiles"

4.5/5

What do you like best about GNU Automake?

The best thing about this tool is - it is free and part of GNU license. So it can be easily included as part of any project where makefiles need to generated - e.g. using utilities like configure (running ./configure that checks for various dependencies and finally generates the makefile depending on the system architecture. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about GNU Automake?

Automake is not backward compatible i.e a project created with automake 1.2 will not work with automake 1.3 - so in such cases we may have to include automake versions or always use latest common version of automake for all projects Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Recommendations to others considering GNU Automake:

Automake needs to be used with other utilities like autoconf, gcc, etc in order to generate makefiles. Make sure that all projects use the same version of automake so that compatibility issues do not arise. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What problems is GNU Automake solving and how is that benefiting you?

Our work involves creating multiple projects by integrating several C/C++ files. So in such cases we use automake in combination with other utilities like autoconf, configure, gcc, etc to generate generic makefiles for building the project executable. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Akim D.

Teacher/researcher

Research

Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.)

8/1/2018

"Makefiles even more declarative"

4/5

What do you like best about GNU Automake?

Make and Makefiles are the historical build system for Unix. Because it is open to any build tool, it is still a relevant standard today. However, to much boilerplate is needed, and Automake, a translator for extended Makefiles, takes care of this. Since it's an extended Makefile, whenever needed, writing regular Make recipes works. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about GNU Automake?

On Windows, until recently, it's not simple to use Make, hence Automake is (was?) not to adequate for project targeting Windows. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Verified User in Electrical/Electronic Manufacturing

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

1/31/2019

"GNU Automake a good one"

2.5/5

What do you like best about GNU Automake?

I like the tool as its easy to automate the compilation process. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about GNU Automake?

I dont have anything to say I dislike as I am still learning to use the tool Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Verified User in Religious Institutions

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

7/24/2018

"Best for compiling programs"

4.5/5

What do you like best about GNU Automake?

The speed and ease of preparing software for compiling and installing cannot be beat. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about GNU Automake?

Sometimes it complains about missing dependencies that are not required for the compiled program. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Recommendations to others considering GNU Automake:

I have not found any other software that works as well as Automake for your software compiling needs. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What problems is GNU Automake solving and how is that benefiting you?

Running several Debian servers, the ability to compile programs specific for my installation make this a lifesaver. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Verified User in Consumer Services

Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.)

7/1/2016

"GNU Automake for C++ projects"

5/5

What do you like best about GNU Automake?

Simplifies writing Makefiles in higher-level language rather than writing everything manually. Automatically takes care of all dependencies. When a source is modified it automatically recompiles it when next time automake is invoked. It automatically resolves large number of targets to be built for which is tedious with plain makefiles Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about GNU Automake?

having static paths breaks cross-compilation ability.Steep learning curve.It Does not fit well for Windows OS. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.