[ptxdist] [PATCH] configure.ac: support GNU coreutils binaries with "gnu" prefix

[ptxdist] [PATCH] configure.ac: support GNU coreutils binaries with "gnu" prefix

[Markus Heidelberg via ptxdist]

Ubuntu 25.10 switched most of the coreutils parts from GNU to uutils
implementation where the "--version" check fails during configure run:

  checking for GNU cat... configure: error: could not find GNU cat

The GNU coreutils are still installed with a filename prefix,
e.g. /usr/bin/gnucat.

Signed-off-by: Markus Heidelberg <m.heidelberg@cab.de>
---
 configure.ac | 2 +-
 1 file changed, 1 insertion(+), 1 deletion(-)

diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index c6ad34fa6..e56601f51 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -137,7 +137,7 @@ dnl   $1: tool to search for
 dnl   $2: package where the tool is (e.g. 'coreutils')
 AC_DEFUN([GNU_TOOL],
 	[AC_CACHE_CHECK([for GNU $1], [ac_cv_path_gnu_$1],
-		[AC_PATH_PROGS_FEATURE_CHECK([gnu_$1], [g$1 $1.gnu $1-gnu $1],
+		[AC_PATH_PROGS_FEATURE_CHECK([gnu_$1], [g$1 gnu$1 $1.gnu $1-gnu $1],
 			[[out=`$ac_path_gnu_$1 --version 2>/dev/null | $SED -ne "s/.*\(GNU\) $2.*/\1/p"`
 				test "x$out" = xGNU && ac_cv_path_gnu_$1=$ac_path_gnu_$1 ac_path_gnu_$1_found=:]],
 			[AC_MSG_ERROR([could not find GNU $1])])])
-- 
2.43.0

Re: [ptxdist] [PATCH] configure.ac: support GNU coreutils binaries with "gnu" prefix

[Michael Olbrich]

On Thu, Nov 05, 2026 at 04:07:07PM +0100, Markus Heidelberg via ptxdist wrote:
> Ubuntu 25.10 switched most of the coreutils parts from GNU to uutils
> implementation where the "--version" check fails during configure run:
> 
>   checking for GNU cat... configure: error: could not find GNU cat
> 
> The GNU coreutils are still installed with a filename prefix,
> e.g. /usr/bin/gnucat.

Hmmm, that would prefer the gnu version. I'm not sure if we need to be
stricter. I had some issues (on Ubuntu 26.04) where install (I think) would
not change the owner of a file (in fakeroot) to one that did not exist in
the host system. I don't remember the exact details and I cannot reproduce
this on the fly.
But there is also a worrying issue[1] that suggest, that uutils may not
play nice with fakeroot in general.

In my test setup I've just installed coreutils-from-uutils but that is
probably not a good long term solution. I need to think about this.
Suggestions are welcome.

Michael

[1] https://github.com/uutils/coreutils/issues/16339

> Signed-off-by: Markus Heidelberg <m.heidelberg@cab.de>
> ---
>  configure.ac | 2 +-
>  1 file changed, 1 insertion(+), 1 deletion(-)
> 
> diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
> index c6ad34fa6..e56601f51 100644
> --- a/configure.ac
> +++ b/configure.ac
> @@ -137,7 +137,7 @@ dnl   $1: tool to search for
>  dnl   $2: package where the tool is (e.g. 'coreutils')
>  AC_DEFUN([GNU_TOOL],
>  	[AC_CACHE_CHECK([for GNU $1], [ac_cv_path_gnu_$1],
> -		[AC_PATH_PROGS_FEATURE_CHECK([gnu_$1], [g$1 $1.gnu $1-gnu $1],
> +		[AC_PATH_PROGS_FEATURE_CHECK([gnu_$1], [g$1 gnu$1 $1.gnu $1-gnu $1],
>  			[[out=`$ac_path_gnu_$1 --version 2>/dev/null | $SED -ne "s/.*\(GNU\) $2.*/\1/p"`
>  				test "x$out" = xGNU && ac_cv_path_gnu_$1=$ac_path_gnu_$1 ac_path_gnu_$1_found=:]],
>  			[AC_MSG_ERROR([could not find GNU $1])])])
> -- 
> 2.43.0
> 
> 
> 

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