Hmmm. Would it be worth changing autoconf to make './configure --help' state something like the following:
| Some influential environment variables: | ... | DESTDIR leave unset during configure; allows installation to | specify a staging area different than the final prefix Perhaps even issue a warning if DESTDIR is set during configure time? Or would this proposal just cause more problems? I know that the wording is only a suggestion, but I see multiple problems. DESTDIR is not synonymous with prefix, it is prepended to each of the variables (exec_prefix, prefix, bindir, libexecdir, ...) when they are used as a destination during `make install'. I do not think that users are confused about passing DESTDIR during configure time either. DESTDIR is and has always been a automake variable. Alas, the only useful place to put this information is in the output of --help. Maybe something more like this would be a bit more suitable (not to happy about the actual wording): `To install FOO in a different directory for the purpose of making a tarball, or similar pass DESTDIR to `make install'' Problem with the above, is that it only works when using make, but maybe this is not a real problem? If one uses AM_INIT in configure, then the above could pop up... _______________________________________________ Bug-coreutils mailing list [email protected] http://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/bug-coreutils
