On Fri, 2010-09-24 at 15:20 -0400, Trevor Woerner wrote: > On Fri, Sep 24, 2010 at 3:00 PM, Gaetan Nadon <[email protected]> wrote: > > On Fri, 2010-09-24 at 00:15 -0400, Trevor Woerner wrote: > > Removal of existing options should be discussed separately. > > Providing a generic way of performing tasks (the --cmd) does not mean > > making it harder to perform common tasks. > > I'm not trying to make it harder to perform the common tasks, it just > cleans up the code considerably. >
I was warning about making user interface changes based on internal code issues. Users look at the options to find out capabilities. They may not know which one is a git command and which one is a make command. We must make it easy for new contributors. This does not imply that what we have today is the best. > Before I started looking into the build script, if the user specified > the "--clean" option the script would (for every repository) perform: > > 1. configure > 2. make > 3. make clean > 4. make install (which essentially performs a "make" again followed by > an install) > > Also, if the user specified the "-d" and the "--clean" options the script > would: > > 1. configure > 2. make > 3. make clean > 4. make distcheck > 5. make install > > I think it's crazy that the script chooses the order in which the > commands get run. > Now we are talking about behavior changes which needed a change in user interface. It's not code cleanup here, it's function change. I had not realized the impact of the code change. I suggest you make this function in a separate patch. I have some comments/information on that topic, but I will postpone. > > Not everyone knows automake in details, much less functions like "dist" and > > "distcheck". > > If a user doesn't know enough to know what "make distcheck" is, then > there's no way having a "-d : run make distcheck in addition to > others" option is going to make it any clearer to them :-) > > Leaving that code and those options in is almost pointless, it would > be less work to just add the couple more make targets which are > missing rather than implementing a generic infrastructure to run any > arbitrary make command. If a user doesn't know what they're doing > chances are they want "make install", which is the default. If they > know enough to know they want to run "make distcheck" they would know > enough to be able to supply it on the commandline. Having a "-d" > option so the script will: > > 1. configure > 2. make > 3. make distcheck > 4. make install > > is not efficient. The removal of options, whether it's one or more is not related to "Perform arbitrary git or make commands" implies the *addition* of a new feature. It may open opportunities for further improvements/removal which need to be discussed. After writing all this, I realize I was expecting a new feature while the rest remained the same. That explains why my comments probably did not make much sense to you. I suggest you add the new feature, and only the new feature. Once reviewed and in place, it would be easier to suggest additional improvements/removal.
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