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Re: srcdir == objdir build issues [SC take note]
- From: Phil Edwards <phil at jaj dot com>
- To: DJ Delorie <dj at redhat dot com>
- Cc: dhazeghi at yahoo dot com, gcc at gcc dot gnu dot org, binutils at sources dot redhat dot com,gdb at sources dot redhat dot com
- Date: Fri, 9 May 2003 14:19:25 -0400
- Subject: Re: srcdir == objdir build issues [SC take note]
- References: <20EC888E-81F7-11D7-9B47-000393681B36@yahoo.com> <200305091755.h49Htqc21246@greed.delorie.com>
On Fri, May 09, 2003 at 01:55:52PM -0400, DJ Delorie wrote:
> I keep noting that every other source
> package besides gcc is build with "./configure; make" and we'd only be
> surprising the users if we don't allow it.
Very true.
> So here's an idea. Let's ask the Steering Committee what we should
> support. Whatever we choose to not support, I'll modify configure to
> detect and just plain fail, so there will be no doubts about the
> situation any more.
There's no reason to make it gratuitously fail. I implemented a patch
that would solve both problems: configury only has to deal with out-srcdir
builds, plus the users can do "./configure; make" with no surprises.
You rejected it because it would confuse a user who wanted to debug a
problem but would be confused when objects weren't in the same place as
the sources. Which means, a user who
- was proficient enough with computers to be building a compiler from scratch
- cared enough to investigate the causes of a failed build
- knew about ".c" files turning into ".o" files
but
- hadn't read the documentation where we point out separate objdir builds,
- didn't know how to type "ls" and notice brand new subdirs named "build-*"
I disbelieve such a user exists.
Phil
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