# Replace Autotools-based build system by CMake.

**URL:** https://discourse.cmake.org/t/replace-autotools-based-build-system-by-cmake/15745
**Category:** Code
**Created:** [July 11, 2026, 6:36pm UTC](https://discourse.cmake.org/t/replace-autotools-based-build-system-by-cmake/15745 "2026-07-11T18:36:58Z")
**Posts on this page:** 3
**Page:** 1

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### Author: ![G.W\_Haywood](https://discourse.cmake.org/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/g/b5e925/32.png) [@G.W\_Haywood](https://discourse.cmake.org/u/G.W_Haywood)
#### Post date: [July 11, 2026, 6:36pm UTC](https://discourse.cmake.org/t/replace-autotools-based-build-system-by-cmake/15745/1 "2026-07-11T18:36:58Z")

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Hi there,

The subject says what I’m trying to do but I’m not even sure that it’s  
sane to try to do it.

About a year ago, for my sins, I became the maintainer of BackupPC:

> **[BackupPC: Open Source Backup to disk](https://backuppc.github.io/backuppc/BackupPC.html)**
>
> BackupPC is a high-performance, enterprise-grade system for backing up Linux, Windows and macOS PCs and laptops to a server's disk.

The project is in reasonable shape but frankly the build systems that  
I inherited were badly in need of an overhaul.

For the past few days to get a toe in the water I’ve been playing with  
CMake to try to replace the Autotools parts of the BackupPC-XS package  
with a CMakeLists.txt. I managed to produce something that will build  
a rough approximation to a Perl XS library module, but it’s a long way  
from running at the moment - I need to get the linking figured out.

Anyway, to begin with: is what I’m trying to do here sane?

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### Author: ![LegalizeAdulthood](https://discourse.cmake.org/user_avatar/discourse.cmake.org/legalizeadulthood/32/5282_2.png) [@LegalizeAdulthood](https://discourse.cmake.org/u/LegalizeAdulthood)
#### Post date: [July 13, 2026, 5:39pm UTC](https://discourse.cmake.org/t/replace-autotools-based-build-system-by-cmake/15745/2 "2026-07-13T17:39:53Z")

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You should look at my presentation:  
[Migrating a Project to CMake from Autotools](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROCaCun6yXA)

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### Author: ![G.W\_Haywood](https://discourse.cmake.org/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/g/b5e925/32.png) [@G.W\_Haywood](https://discourse.cmake.org/u/G.W_Haywood)
#### Post date: [July 13, 2026, 5:57pm UTC](https://discourse.cmake.org/t/replace-autotools-based-build-system-by-cmake/15745/3 "2026-07-13T17:57:21Z")

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Hi there,