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By Zayden R., September 10, 2026
GNU Automake 1.19 is out after 15 months, addressing a 14-year-old bug and adding AM_OPTIONAL_AUTOMAKE for better archive handling. Engineers relying on Automake should update to benefit from fixes and improved compatibility.
GNU Automake 1.19 has been released, marking the first update in over a year and a substantial one at that. This new release addresses a 14-year-old bug and introduces a single new feature: the AM_OPTIONAL_AUTOMAKE autoconf macro. This macro allows users to specify a list of archive creation tools such as dist-xz, dist-zstd, and dist-bzip3. Automake will then build each archive if the necessary tool is available, skipping those that aren't without any errors. This feature might seem minor, but it can streamline the build process for those who rely on Automake over other systems like Meson or CMake.
The bug fix aspect of this release is significant. Automake 1.19 corrects a long-standing issue with the make dist-bzip2 dist-xz command. Previously, the uncompressed tarball was removed after achieving the first goal, causing failures in subsequent archive creations. This release ensures the tarball is properly shared and used for both XZ and Bzip2, effectively solving the issue that has been a thorn in the side of developers for over a decade.
Additionally, the update includes improved recognition for files like COPYINGv2 and COPYINGv3, treating them similarly to the conventional COPYING file. This change aids in compatibility with other GNU projects, such as GNU GMP files. Moreover, Automake now better detects BusyBox's Tar, and the make dist command will logically fail when Tar fails, rather than succeeding with a truncated archive.
For those who have continued to use Automake as their build system of choice, this release is a welcome update. It addresses critical issues and introduces a level of optionality that can be quite beneficial for complex builds. GNU Automake 1.19 is available for download from savannah.gnu.org, and it's a solid improvement that sysadmins and developers should consider integrating into their workflows.