Lower build system requirements: Autoconf version 2.72 or higher is required

[mark-orion]

I am trying to build seq66 on Ubuntu Studio 24.04. The build fails because it requires Autoconf 2.72 and Ubuntu 24.04 uses 2.71.
Would it be possible to lower the version requirements for the build tools so that seq66 can be built on Ubuntu LTS versions?

[mark-orion]

I could solve the problem by changing the version requirement in configure.ac from 2.72 to 2.71. The build went without problems. So maybe this lower version requirement could become part of the main branch?
The other thing I discovered while building is that configure does not seem to test properly for liblo-dev:
Although configure worked without errors, my first build attempt failed because of a missing liblo-dev. Installing the missing packet solved the problem of course.

[ahlstromcj]

Will do soon, it will be in the next release. Currently working on how to convert from autoconf/qmake to Meson, and it's kicking my ass.

[ahlstromcj]

Release 0.99.24 uploaded. Decremented autoconf to 271. As for liblo-dev, not sure why pkgconfig does not find it.

…

-- When all else fails, try Kate Smith.

[ahlstromcj]

For the next release, 0.99.25, Seq66 will drop autotools/autoconf and instead use Meson. The qmake builds (i.e. *.pro files) are still around, at least for awhile. Got rid of a bunch of files and reorganized the GUI files. The build is much faster and more flexible. Meson 1.4 or above is required; currently on Arch and Debian Sid it is already at version 1.11. I've worked out all the issues and just have some final testing on Windows. If you want a preview to comment on, checkout the "Meson" branch. See the INSTALL file. The old code is preserved in the "Autoconf" branch.