[omniORB] Autoconf macros that automatically detect omniORB.

[Alex Tingle]

Hi Rob,

I wrote:
>> I've completed a set of Autoconf macros that automatically
>> detect omniORB (versions 3 & 4). They are still at a fairly
>> experimental stage, so I'd appreciate comments and suggestions.

Rob Riggs wrote:
> Note that there is a set of CORBA autoconf scripts already in the 
> works.   Info on CORBACONF can be found at
> http://www.corbaconf.kiev.ua/ and
> http://corbadev.kiev.ua/mailman/listinfo/corbaconf

I know about CORBACONF, in fact I mentioned it in my post. Just to
reiterate,

I wrote:
>1. The author has asserted his copyright, and has not released the
>   software under any license that allows me to use [or modify] it.

As far as I am aware this is still the case... yep I just checked.

I wrote:
>2. It does not support omniORB4, and even support for omniORB3 is
>patchy
>   (it doesn't detect the omniORB3 installation on my Debian box, for
>   example).

...but this is far more important. Auto detection of omniORB3 was pretty
patchy (it don't detect the default installation on my Debian box), and
support for omniORB4 was non-existant. I couldn't fix the problem
because I don't have the right to modify CORBACONF.

The grand scheme of CORBACONF (and ORBframe) to auto-detect any ORB from
within autoconf just seems too ambitious. They sacrifice depth for
breadth. I like the idea of ORB-independance, but my need is not to get
my software working with any ORB on any platform, just *one* ORB will be
enough to start with! ;-)

I looked around for an autoconf macro for omniORB, and I nothing I found
did the job, so I've written my own - targeted specifically at omniORB.
It works really well!

I'd love to see that incorporated into a broader framework like
CORBACONF or ORBframe. (I've already e-mailed the ORBframe lot to ask
about it - and with this e-mail I'm contacting Ruslan - Hi Ruslan!) I'm
happy to make changes to the interface to make that possible.

I think that the best way to approach this, is to see ORBframe or
CORBACONF as frameworks into which support for each ORB can be plugged.
That way, the framework owner can concentrate on the interfaces, while
support for individual ORBs can be left to people who really CARE about
that ORB. Like I care about support for omniORB.

Diego Sevilla Ruiz of ORBframe put this very well in a post to the
corbaconf list:
> So what about using the best of both products, I mean, the build
> structure and naming standarization of ORBframe and the macros on
> Corbaconf, perhaps modified to match ORBframe common naming scheme and
> Dan's proposed naming for the macros? (I mean, prefixing them by
> CORBA_ or something similar)

regards,

-Alex