[Clfs-support] How do I keep configure scripts from looking at my BUILD system when cross compiling?

[Jon Dufresne]

Hi,

I am trying to configure programs for a cross compile. I've been
following the cross-lfs as a guide to get me on my way but I diverge
from it when I want a more custom setup. One aspect of my project that
I would like to keep is to have all development files on the build
system only. In the end I want the target system to only have binaries
that were compiled by the build system's cross compiler using gcc's
sysroot.

One issue I am having is that during the autotools configure stage of
most packages, the configure script will make judgments based on my
build system's environment rather than my target system's environment.
For example, I am trying to compile directfb-1.0.0 which uses gnu
autotools and I see the following during configure.

./configure --build=${HOST} --host=${TARGET} 	--prefix=/usr
...
...
checking for sdl-config... /usr/bin/sdl-config


Now, I know I haven't installed SDL on my target system and I know I
have SDL on my build system, and I can see the sdl-config file that
configure picks up. So now the configure script is making decisions
based on my build system rather than my target system.

Any idea how to resolve this?

Thanks,
Jon