[tex-live] including "songs" package in TeX Live

[Kevin Hamlen]

Dear TeX Live maintainers,

I am the maintainer of the "songs" package on CTAN, and would like to 
explore getting the package included into TeX Live.  Users frequently 
contact me asking why it is not distributed with TeX Live, so I believe 
it would be useful to include it.  I have regularly updated it on CTAN 
since 2009.

To make it suitable for TeX Live, I would appreciate your advice about 
how to best adapt the package to meet the TeX Live build standards.  It 
already meets most of the standards (it is distributed under the GNU 
GPL, it is thoroughly self-documenting via a *.dtx file, and it has no 
unusual filenames or filename conflicts).  The main holdup is that it 
includes an executable component written in C, and although the C 
sources are fully compliant with the GNU coding standards, the current 
build method is just a simple Makefile rather than the full 
Autoconf/Automake system.

I have avoided Autoconf/Automake because it adds significant complexity 
to the otherwise simple tree of files.  Most users do not need or use 
the part that requires C-compilation.  They just use the .sty file and 
they appreciate its easy availability without the hassle of 
Autoconf/Automake.

My question:  Is there a way I can make the CTAN version of my package 
suitable for auto-inclusion into TeX Live without adding an entire 
Autoconf/Automake tree to it at the top level?  Ideally I would like the 
root package directory to be a completely standard *.dtx/*.sty setup 
that is handled fully automatically by the TeX Live build system.  The 
C-compiled part would just be an optional extra subdirectory that 
needn't be compiled by TeX Live by default. It would just be there for 
advanced users who may want to explore that feature manually.

Thank you for your time,
Kevin Hamlen