cvs build problems and automake/conf/etc

[jlh geodesic com]

'cvs' based builds of any of the gnome components often
fail due to missing '.m4' macros.  This appears to be yet
another problem relating to multiple paths to important
files, namely the aclocal '.m4' files.

Here is a typical result from running './autogen.sh' on gtk+:

./autogen.sh --prefix=/usr/local/gnome
WARNING: aclocal's directory is /usr/local/gnome/share/aclocal, but...
         no file /usr/local/gnome/share/aclocal/gettext.m4
         You may see fatal macro warnings below.
         If these files are installed in /some/dir, set the ACLOCAL_FLAGS
         environment variable to "-I /some/dir", or install
         /usr/local/gnome/share/aclocal/gettext.m4.

Running gettextize...  Ignore non-fatal messages.
sed: can't read aclocal.m4: No such file or directory
You should update your own `aclocal.m4' by adding the necessary
macro packages gettext.m4, lcmessage.m4 and progtest.m4 from
the directory `/aclocal'
aclocal: configure.in: 0: macro `AM_PATH_PROG_WITH_TEST' not found in library
aclocal: configure.in: 0: macro `AM_PATH_PROG_WITH_TEST' not found in library
aclocal: configure.in: 0: macro `AM_PATH_PROG_WITH_TEST' not found in library
aclocal: configure.in: 0: macro `AM_PATH_PROG_WITH_TEST' not found in library
aclocal: configure.in: 0: macro `AM_PATH_PROG_WITH_TEST' not found in library
aclocal: configure.in: 0: macro `AM_PATH_PROG_WITH_TEST' not found in library
aclocal: configure.in: 0: macro `AM_LC_MESSAGES' not found in library
configure.in:193: warning: AC_TRY_RUN called without default to allow cross compiling
configure.in:194: warning: AC_TRY_RUN called without default to allow cross compiling
configure.in:415: warning: AC_TRY_RUN called without default to allow cross compiling
automake: configure.in: installing `./install-sh'; error while making link: File exists

automake: configure.in: installing `./mkinstalldirs'; error while making link: File exists

automake: configure.in: installing `./missing'; error while making link: File
exdocs/Makefile.am:3: installing `docs/texinfo.tex'; error while making link: File exists

configure.in:193: warning: AC_TRY_RUN called without default to allow cross compiling
configure.in:194: warning: AC_TRY_RUN called without default to allow cross compiling
configure.in:415: warning: AC_TRY_RUN called without default to allow cross compiling
loading cache ./config.cache
./configure: line 602: syntax error near unexpected token `AM_INIT_AUTOMAKE($PACKAGE,'
./configure: line 602: `AM_INIT_AUTOMAKE($PACKAGE, $VERSION, no-define)'

Now type 'make' to compile Gtk+.

......

When we build gnome files and use the --prefix=/usr/local/gnome, the aclocal '.m4'
files get placed in that path, while other '.m4' files are placed in the '/usr/local'
path.

I have found _no_ documentation on this problem.  (The problem is even worse if
you mix/match between RPM based '/usr' installs and your own '/usr/local'
installs.)  It is a show-stopper for cvs based development, so I'd like to know
how people work around it.  There are some obvious kludges, like manually
copying any of the missing '.m4' files around to the various 'aclocal' subdirectories,
but isn't there a better way?

Any advice appreciated.  Thanks,

John