A few kinds of features can't be guessed automatically by running test
programs. For example, the details of the object file format, or
special options that need to be passed to the compiler or linker. You
can check for such features using ad-hoc means, such as having
configure check the output of the uname program, or
looking for libraries that are unique to particular systems. However,
Autoconf provides a uniform method for handling unguessable features.
Go to the first, previous, next, last section, table of contents.