Github isn't a build server. You shouldn't expect it to perform tasks for you. You should provide a CI server to your users if you want that functionality. I've never heard of downloading "source code" that has been preprocessed. The entire point of the repo is that it IS the source code. If you want it to be preprocessed for users, why even have the original form in the repo?

This is explained in reply to your sibling comment, but the convention on linux for many years is that the source distribution has automake/autotools already run. That way, when you download the source tarball, you know the process is `./configure && make` to make the final binary. The way package maintainers for distributions customize things is (hopefully) by providing flags for configure. The idea is that autotools should only be necessary for developers, not for maintainers.

It is unfortunate, but just create a new branch and run autotools, and mark a release there.

If by "unfortunate" you mean "totally crazy"... I'd rather deal with the occasional person confused by GitHub kids' ignorance of what source tarballs are meant to be that doing such wild and dirty dances in the repository.

TL;DR source code to install from and source code to hack on are often different beasts.

Jesus, iPhone app development is pretty much as terrible as I always imagined. Not in the actual development itself, but in convention and mindset.