File: autoconf.info, Node: Manual Configuration, Next: Site Configuration, Prev: Portable C and C++++, Up: Top 14 Manual Configuration *********************** 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. Autoconf provides a uniform method for handling unguessable features, by giving each operating system a “canonical system type”, also known as a “canonical name” or “target triplet”. If you use any of the macros described in this chapter, you must distribute the helper scripts ‘config.guess’ and ‘config.sub’ along with your source code. Some Autoconf macros use these macros internally, so you may need to distribute these scripts even if you do not use any of these macros yourself. *Note Input::, for information about the ‘AC_CONFIG_AUX_DIR’ macro which you can use to control in which directory ‘configure’ looks for helper scripts, and where to get the scripts from. * Menu: * Specifying Target Triplets:: Specifying target triplets * Canonicalizing:: Getting the canonical system type * Using System Type:: What to do with the system type