These files are used by Configure to set things which Configure either can't or doesn't guess properly. Most of these hint files have been tested with at least some version of perl5, but some are still left over from perl4. I would appreciate hearing about any problems or suggested changes. Hint file naming convention: Each hint file name should have only one '.'. (This is for portability to non-unix filesystems.) Names should also fit in <= 14 characters, for portability to older SVR3 systems. File names are of the form $osname_$osvers.sh, with all '.' changed to '_', and all characters such as '/' that don't belong in Unix filenames omitted. For example, consider SunOS 4.1.3. Configure determines $osname=sunos (all names are converted to lower case) and $osvers=4.1.3. Configure will search for an appropriate hint file in the following order: sunos_4_1_3.sh sunos_4_1.sh sunos_4.sh sunos.sh If you need to create a hint file, please try to use as general a name as possible and include minor version differences inside case or test statements. Be sure also to include a default choice. (See aix.sh for one example.) That way, if you write a hint file for foonix 3.2, it might still work without any changes when foonix 3.3 is released. Please also comment carefully on why the different hints are needed. That way, a future version of Configure may be able to automatically detect what is needed. A glossary of config.sh variables is in the file Porting/Glossary. Have the appropriate amount of fun :-) Andy Dougherty doughera@lafcol.lafayette.edu Dept. of Physics Lafayette College, Easton PA 18042