> (2) Assuming you can unpack the uncorrupted tar file,
> you need to execute "sh bootstrap" (executes some
> autoconf magic incantations) in the top-level maxima
> directory before "./configure".
Are you sure about this? The last time I compiled maxima from
a release tarball it worked well withouth bootstrap...
Was this only by luck?
It is common practise - and the point of autoconf - to include the result
of autoconf (i.e. ./configure) into any released source. I ask
that maxima adopts this policy if it really isn't in place yet,
because ./configure is independent of the target system.
./configure makes sure that everything is in place to compile
but there is nothing to make sure that autoconf is in place. I
think that's the point of running it only as developer.
HTH,
Harald