> if your customers need to be able to build a shared library on Solaris, AIX, HP-UX, IRIX, and all the BSDs Are there even any notable commercial projects that use autotools? Autoconf solves problems that existed in the 90s unix market which are just not very interesting or relevant today. For a few decades now "portable" has meant linux, windows and mac. A lot of effort is spent on generating shell scripts for the…
> Are there even any notable commercial projects that use autotools?
Did you even read the article? The work is supported by Bloomberg for their internal use with Python, a clear commercial usage. https://lwn.net/Articles/835687/
Bloomberg has about 10 G$/y in revenue. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloomberg_LP