[tlbuild] pmx and libf2c

[Karl Berry]

Hi Bob,

    First: am I in the right place?

Yes.

    The sources can be compiled using gfortran 

How about non-g Fortran?  Not everyone uses gcc.

    but I've been advised that TeXLive does not support gfortran.

It shouldn't be *impossible* toe compile Fortran, but I wouldn't look
forward to it.  I also worry about runtime libs.  I think your libf2c
idea is better.

    libf2c sources are available and are almost completely architecture
    independent. I've put the libf2c sources in a sub-directory and set
    up a configure script and Makefiles using autotools; 

It sounds plausible in general.  What I'm not sure of is whether Peter
would have time to incorporate libf2c and pmx now, as I know he's going
away in a few days.  Peter?

(In any case, we'd want the C files to be built beforehand and
distributed on CTAN/wherever so every builder wouldn't have to run f2c.
I imagine that wouldn't be a problem.)

    Is a package that combines GPLv.1 sources and sources licensed as
    above distributable, 

Yes.  By the way, I hope it is really GPLv1-or-later, not GPLv1-only.
GPLv1 shouldn't actually be used at all.  (But even if it is GPLv1-only,
it's not a stopper.)

    and, if so, under what licence?

The package as a whole, i.e., the binaries, would be GPL'd.  The source
files remain under their respective licenses.

    As I am already well beyond my depth, please give very explicit
    instructions.  

Adding a new library to TL requires hacking and rebuilding a variety of
autoconf files.  (Ditto a new program, though perhaps a little less.)
Peter has set up a pretty clean system (see the top-level README*
files), but it's inherently a difficult task.

    what do I do now?  

Can you make a tarball with your generated .c files and all your build
setup for libf2c+pmx somewhere so we (especially Peter) can look at it?

Thanks,
Karl