On Wed, Jan 12, 2011 at 07:01:47PM +0100, Stefano Lattarini wrote: > To be honest, I'm starting to agree with Ralf more and more on these > issues; i.e., just " ... require a decent make ;-)". > > And more than this -- brace yourself -- I'm starting to think that > automake should *really* start supporting *only* GNU make (at least > from version 3.75 or so). [...]
I certainly agree that there are several advantages to requiring GNU make. But I don't think you touched on the most common practical problem with the current situation. In theory, automake is portable and targets any make providing the basic POSIX/SUS-specified functionality. In reality, many (most?) automake- using projects fail to build with non-GNU make. This is /not/ because of any deficiencies with automake, it's because the Makefile.ams are only ever tested with GNU make, and so any nonportable constructs are not picked up on. Without regular testing using a set of different make variants, we end up supporting GNU make by default--because that's what the overwhelming majority of developers and users are using. In a number of projects I maintain the build infrastructure for, we already mandate GNU make. This is just reflecting a simple reality: we don't have the resources to continually test for and fix portability issues in the Makefiles. And if we do take the time to do this, it's rapidly broken again because testing with GNU make doesn't pick up any regressions. We also don't have /any/ feedback from non-GNU make users telling us about portability issues, so GNU make becomes a /de facto/ requirement in any case. Supporting non-GNU makes just isn't worth the effort--we gain nothing from it. Note I'm not suggesting that automake immediately stop being portable to other makes. But I don't believe it's serving a useful purpose for the vast majority of automake users. I would find it useful to make use of more advanced GNU make-specific features on occasion, without automake complaining! Regards, Roger -- .''`. Roger Leigh : :' : Debian GNU/Linux http://people.debian.org/~rleigh/ `. `' Printing on GNU/Linux? http://gutenprint.sourceforge.net/ `- GPG Public Key: 0x25BFB848 Please GPG sign your mail.
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