Autotools

Do the expert programmers at /prog/ use the GNU Autotools?

Also, are the Autotools really the de facto tools to create software packages?

There are about a dozen different fairly well established build systems you can choose from. Of course anything besides autotools people will have to install first. I refuse to use autotools, and have tried a variety of different alternatives. If you're going to write a program big enough that you can't use simple make files, then you might as well pick a build system that makes your life easier, not harder. And if you pick a nice build system such as CMake, then making your program cross-platform becomes much easier. My latest experiment has been with Jam/FTJam/BoostJam, and so far I am quite pleased with it.