<p>GNU Autotools is a build system that helps you distribute your code in a predictable and reliable way.
Build systems offer many benefits, including:
</p>

<ol>
<li>Standard and automate-able build process</li>
<li>hooks into packaging systems (RPM, DEB, Slackbuilds, Flatpak, Snap, and so on)</li>
<li>version reporting</li>
<li>build for various OSes</li>
<li>you get lots of  code to handle every possible corner case, for free</li>
<li>with a single configuration, you can build your project as the developer, build it for packagers, and enable users to build it for themselves</li>
</ol>

<p>Next up: how to use GNU Autotools</p>