At some point, most Linux developers need to master Autotools.  For most of us, this is a fairly painful process, but like any good tool, Autotools is extremely useful and well worth learning.  For example, if your program is set up correctly using Autotools, it will cross compile with almost zero effort in OpenEmbedded, or with slight effort manually.  Compare this to the tedious effort of manually referencing toolchain locations, cross toolchain library and header file locations, etc.  Despite first impressions, Autotools will make your life easier.  This article contains a collection of tips on how to do standard operations using Autotools.