In message <200002031459.JAA21737@Twig.Rodents.Montreal.QC.CA>, der Mouse write
s:
> >> Feed the config file thru cpp before config-ing.
> > Why should I if config can do it for me?
> 
> I was afraid of this when I saw the first remark about cpp.
> 
> *Please* don't do this.  cpp is *not* a general-purpose macro
> preprocessor.  The X people made that mistake with imake, and have
> accreted a huge pile of hackery to get around the consequences thereof,
> from XCOMM to @@ to some ugly attempts in C code to intuit how this
> particular preprocessor works.
> 
> Run your config files through cpp if you must.  But please don't
> inflict it on the rest of us.

Besides, this is UNIX -- compose tools; don't build them into everything.  Use 
cpp or m4 or a database feeding awk or perl to create your own config file.

		--Steve Bellovin