GNU Autoconf
E61961
GNU Autoconf is a build configuration tool that automatically generates portable shell scripts to configure software packages for compilation on diverse Unix-like systems.
All labels observed (6)
| Label | Occurrences |
|---|---|
| GNU Autoconf canonical | 7 |
| Autoconf | 3 |
| Autoconf Manual on gnu.org | 1 |
| Autoconf/Make (historical) | 1 |
| Autotools | 1 |
| GNU Autoconf macro language | 1 |
How this entity was disambiguated
This entity first appeared as the object of triple T497652 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.
NED1
Entity disambiguation (via context triple)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: GNU Autoconf Context triple: [GNU Project, hasPart, GNU Autoconf]
-
A.
GNU Compiler Collection
The GNU Compiler Collection (GCC) is a widely used, free and open-source compiler system that supports numerous programming languages and platforms, forming a core component of the GNU toolchain and much of the open-source software ecosystem.
-
B.
GNU Project
The GNU Project is a free software initiative that created many core components of the GNU/Linux operating system and pioneered the modern free software movement.
-
C.
GNU toolchain
The GNU toolchain is a collection of programming tools, including compilers, linkers, assemblers, and debuggers, widely used for building and developing software on Unix-like systems.
-
D.
The GNU Manifesto
The GNU Manifesto is Richard Stallman’s foundational essay outlining the philosophy, goals, and rationale for the free software movement and the GNU Project.
-
E.
GNU Emacs
GNU Emacs is a highly extensible, customizable text editor and computing environment that serves as a flagship project of the GNU system and the free software movement.
- F. None of above. chosen
- G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.
NED2
Entity disambiguation (via description)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: GNU Autoconf Target entity description: GNU Autoconf is a build configuration tool that automatically generates portable shell scripts to configure software packages for compilation on diverse Unix-like systems.
-
A.
GNU Compiler Collection
The GNU Compiler Collection (GCC) is a widely used, free and open-source compiler system that supports numerous programming languages and platforms, forming a core component of the GNU toolchain and much of the open-source software ecosystem.
-
B.
GNU Project
The GNU Project is a free software initiative that created many core components of the GNU/Linux operating system and pioneered the modern free software movement.
-
C.
GNU toolchain
The GNU toolchain is a collection of programming tools, including compilers, linkers, assemblers, and debuggers, widely used for building and developing software on Unix-like systems.
-
D.
The GNU Manifesto
The GNU Manifesto is Richard Stallman’s foundational essay outlining the philosophy, goals, and rationale for the free software movement and the GNU Project.
-
E.
GNU Emacs
GNU Emacs is a highly extensible, customizable text editor and computing environment that serves as a flagship project of the GNU system and the free software movement.
- F. None of above. chosen
Statements (46)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
GNU Project software
ⓘ
build configuration tool ⓘ free software ⓘ |
| category | software development tools ⓘ |
| componentOf | GNU Autotools ⓘ |
| designGoal |
automatic configuration of build environments
ⓘ
portability across Unix-like systems ⓘ |
| developer |
Free Software Foundation
ⓘ
GNU Project ⓘ |
| distributionFormat | source code tarball ⓘ |
| documentation |
GNU Autoconf
self-linksurface differs
ⓘ
surface form:
Autoconf Manual on gnu.org
|
| feature |
checks for functions
ⓘ
checks for header files ⓘ checks for libraries ⓘ checks for types ⓘ cross-compilation support ⓘ feature tests instead of platform tests ⓘ |
| genre | build automation ⓘ |
| influenced |
CMake
ⓘ
Meson build system ⓘ |
| input |
configure.ac file
ⓘ
configure.in file ⓘ |
| license | GNU General Public License ⓘ |
| maintainer | GNU Autoconf maintainers ⓘ |
| operatingSystem |
GNU Project
ⓘ
surface form:
GNU
Unix-like systems ⓘ |
| output | configure script ⓘ |
| partOf |
GNU Automake
ⓘ
surface form:
GNU Build System
|
| programmingLanguage |
M4
ⓘ
shell script ⓘ |
| purpose |
configure software packages for compilation
ⓘ
generate portable configure scripts ⓘ test system features and capabilities ⓘ |
| replaced | Imake in many projects ⓘ |
| requires |
M4
ⓘ
POSIX-compatible shell ⓘ |
| supports | diverse Unix-like systems ⓘ |
| supportsLanguage |
C
ⓘ
C++ ⓘ Fortran ⓘ |
| targetAudience | software developers ⓘ |
| uses |
M4 macro processor
ⓘ
shell scripts ⓘ |
| website | https://www.gnu.org/software/autoconf/ ⓘ |
| worksWith |
GNU Automake
ⓘ
GNU libtool ⓘ
surface form:
GNU Libtool
|
How these facts were elicited
The pipeline generated the facts above by prompting gpt-5.1 with this entity's name + description and the instruction below.
Instruction
You are a knowledge base construction expert. Given a subject entity and a description of it, return factual statements that you know for the subject as a JSON list of dictionaries(triples), where keys must be "subject", "predicate" and "object". The number of facts may be very high, between 25 to 50 or more, for very popular subjects. For less popular subjects, the number of facts can be very low, like 5 or 10. # Requirements - If you don't know the subject at all, return an empty list. - If the subject is not a named entity, return an empty list. - Include at least one triple where predicate is "instanceOf". - Do not get too wordy. - Separate several objects into multiple triples with one object.
Input
Subject: GNU Autoconf Description of subject: GNU Autoconf is a build configuration tool that automatically generates portable shell scripts to configure software packages for compilation on diverse Unix-like systems.
Referenced by (14)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.
this entity surface form:
Autotools
this entity surface form:
Autoconf/Make (historical)
this entity surface form:
Autoconf Manual on gnu.org
this entity surface form:
Autoconf
subject surface form:
Imake
this entity surface form:
Autoconf
this entity surface form:
GNU Autoconf macro language
this entity surface form:
Autoconf