I have created a C++ Qt application. I understand that the convention for distributing programs is to have configure script, after which the end-user types 'make' then 'make install'. I'd like to know how to go about creating the configure script (without having to write it myself).

I know that KDevelop can do this, but after importing my Qt project into KDevelop, the autoconf and automake features are removed from the menus.

It would also be good if I knew how to create RPMs too. And ebuilds perhaps? Is there any resource someone can point me to for doing these things?

Thanks.

The Gentoo Developer Handbook should help you with creating an Ebuild.

Thanks for that, but I would preferably like to start with a source package.

You can find some basic info on autoconf and automake here.

Yes... it's very long, and I think it only explains the method writing the configure script oneself, which I wish to avoid.

No, it explains how to write the configure.ac, etc., which is what is used to generate the configure script using autoconf. The configure.ac can be a pretty short depending on what all you need.

There is much you will probably want to learn about the autobuild tools for what you want, and that is a very good place to start. It's either that or take the lazy way out and try to find someone who will do it all for you...