The ./configure script seems to be a bit braindead:

- When it can't find the compiler specified via "CXX" parameter, it instead
complains that it doesn't find the "boost" libraries.

- When the compiler can't find its libraries, it instead claims that it "cannot
find a suitable ZLIB library".

So doing a general check for a working compiler and linker environment first
(maybe trying to compile, link and run some "Hello World") would be helpful to
the end user.

I tried to ./configure POV-ray for using the Intel C++ compiler instead of GNU
C++, and ran into these error messages because - as I ultimately found out -
had forgotten to run the compiler's "iccvars.sh" script first.

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> I tried to ./configure POV-ray for using the Intel C++ compiler instead of GNU
> C++

	Never faced this problem before (the beta binaries come as both ICC-
and GCC-builds) but that may be because of my customized install of ICC.
	Any patch to suggest here?

	Thanks,
	- NC

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Nicolas Calimet <pov### [at] freefr> wrote:
> > I tried to ./configure POV-ray for using the Intel C++ compiler instead of GNU
> > C++
>
>  Never faced this problem before (the beta binaries come as both ICC-
> and GCC-builds) but that may be because of my customized install of ICC.
>  Any patch to suggest here?

I'm not an expert on Autoconf (or however that tool is called that generates the
../config script), but I'd expect there to be some way to have it try and compile
a simple "hello world" program (or whatever), and if that fails, abort with a
message suggesting to the user to check his compiler setup.

Instead, the script right away starts to test for specific compiler features, by
trying to compile some small programs and checking whether that succeeds / fails
as expected - and gets nonsense answers because the "probe" used in the tests is
broken.

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> - When it can't find the compiler specified via "CXX" parameter, it instead
> complains that it doesn't find the "boost" libraries.
> 
> - When the compiler can't find its libraries, it instead claims that it "cannot
> find a suitable ZLIB library".

	If you still have the corresponding config.log file, please mail it to me.

> So doing a general check for a working compiler and linker environment first
> (maybe trying to compile, link and run some "Hello World") would be helpful to
> the end user.

	That's basically what any configure script is doing.

> I tried to ./configure POV-ray for using the Intel C++ compiler instead of GNU
> C++, and ran into these error messages because - as I ultimately found out -
> had forgotten to run the compiler's "iccvars.sh" script first.

	I suppose this has to do with the latest version (11.x) of icc.  I'll try
to test it for the next beta (but need to get a working license first).

	- NC

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Nicolas Calimet <pov### [at] freefr> wrote:
> > - When it can't find the compiler specified via "CXX" parameter, it instead
> > complains that it doesn't find the "boost" libraries.
> >
> > - When the compiler can't find its libraries, it instead claims that it "cannot
> > find a suitable ZLIB library".
>
>  If you still have the corresponding config.log file, please mail it to me.

Unfortunately, even if I still had it, it would be among the victims of the HDD
(Hard Disk Death). If I run across the same issue when re-installing the whole
smash, I'll get back to you.


> > I tried to ./configure POV-ray for using the Intel C++ compiler instead of GNU
> > C++, and ran into these error messages because - as I ultimately found out -
> > had forgotten to run the compiler's "iccvars.sh" script first.
>
>  I suppose this has to do with the latest version (11.x) of icc.  I'll try
> to test it for the next beta (but need to get a working license first).

Getting an Linux ICC 11.0 license for non-profit use is no big deal as it seems.
IIRC I had to register, but got the compiler for free.

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