Automake generates rules to provide archives of the project for distributions in various formats. Their targets are:
dist-gzip ¶Generate a ‘gzip’ tar archive of the distribution. This is the
only format enabled by default. By default, this rule makes
gzip use a compression option of -9 (more widely
supported than --best). To make
it use a different one, set the GZIP_ENV environment variable.
For example, ‘make dist-gzip GZIP_ENV=-7’. GZIP_ENV is not
used when decompressing.
dist-bzip2 ¶Generate a ‘bzip2’ tar archive of the distribution. bzip2
archives are usually smaller than gzipped archives. By default, this
rule makes ‘bzip2’ use a compression option of -9. To
make it use a different one, set the BZIP2 environment variable.
dist-lzip ¶Generate an ‘lzip’ tar archive of the distribution.
lzip archives are usually smaller than
bzip2-compressed archives. By default, this rule makes
‘lzip’ use a compression option of -9. To make it use a
different one, set the LZIP_OPT environment variable.
dist-xz ¶Generate an ‘xz’ tar archive of the distribution. xz
archives are usually smaller than bzip2-compressed archives.
By default, this rule makes ‘xz’ use a compression option of
-e. To make it use a different one, set the XZ_OPT
environment variable. For example, run this command to use the
default compression ratio, but with a progress indicator: ‘make
dist-xz XZ_OPT=-ve’.
dist-zip ¶Generate a ‘zip’ archive of the distribution.
dist-zstd ¶Generate a zstd tar archive of the distribution. By default,
this rule makes zstd use a compression option of
-19. To use a different setting, set the ZSTD_OPT
environment variable. For example, run this command to use the
default compression ratio, but with a progress indicator: ‘make
dist-zstd ZSTD_OPT=-19v’. However, note that for compatibility with
zstd itself, you may instead set the ZSTD_CLEVEL
environment variable, in which case, any ZSTD_OPT setting is
ignored.
dist-shar ¶Generate a ‘shar’ archive of the distribution. This format archive is obsolescent, and use of this option is deprecated. It and the corresponding functionality will be removed altogether in Automake 2.0.
dist-tarZ ¶Generate a tar archive of the distribution, compressed with the
historical (and obsolescent) program compress. This
option is deprecated, and it and the corresponding functionality
will be removed altogether in Automake 2.0.
The rule dist (and its historical synonym dist-all)
will create archives in all the enabled formats (see List of Automake options for how to change this list). By default, only
the dist-gzip target is enabled by dist.