This commit was manufactured by cvs2svn to create branch 'build_system'.

[SVN r8364]
added a build system and updated documentation


[SVN r8369]
improved configuration of shared library creation


[SVN r8397]
changed configuration for shared linking


[SVN r8398]
fix $(CXX) to $CXX


[SVN r8408]
added --with-extra-libs


[SVN r8452]