Re: Automake,cygwin: 'make clean' with libtool wrappers...

[Charles Wilson]

Robert Collins wrote:


> > A) Sure, that's a possibility.  But not very likely.  Unix 
> > platforms are 
> > not going to use ".exe" on anything.  
>
> Unless the users are building for WINE.


Yes -- but if they are using libtool to build something for wine 
('libtool'ed packages being the only case where my patch to automake 
would matter) then they DO want to remove the .exe files.  Remember, the 
context here is: would this patch result in *unwanted* removal of files 
that should be preserved.  In your wine example, the answer is still 
"no" -- the patch is safe.


> > 3) It's ugly. 'libtool --mode=clean' is much better.
> >
> > A) Sure, but this works *now*.  We can change to 'libtool 
> > --mode=clean' 
> > once libtool is fixed.
>
> What about this: change to libtool --mode=clean, and open a bug in
> libtool "clean does not clean properly".


Let me get this straight: are you advocating that automake deliberately 
break 'make clean' for libtoolized packages on all platforms, when it 
was previously working on most platforms -- just to force libtool to fix 
a feature that has been under-used/non-used in the past?

That's not very friendly to the libtool developers.  Not to mention the 
folks who are just trying to USE the tools who'd get caught in the 
crossfire...

That's why I said: bandaid automake now.  Then fix libtool.  Last, use 
the real fix in automake. (if we were *really* nice, we'd postpone the 
third step until the fixed libtool had made it OUT there as an official 
release...but that might not happen until 2006 at the present rate...sigh)


> > 4) It's slow. 'rm -f $(LIST OF FILES)' is much faster.
> >
> > A) Yes, but you only incur this penalty for libtoolized 
> > packages.  And 
> > even if 'libtool --mode-clean' worked, THAT would have to 
> > loop through 
> > the names one at a time (inside the libtool script).  So the price of 
> > correctness is a loss of speed, regardless.
>
> Unless we use something like xargs - i.e. 'libtool --mode-clean $(LIST
> OF OBJECTS) $(LIST OF LIBRARIES)'. Libtool can be smart enough to turn
> that into 'rm -f $(list-of-.o's list-of-.lo's list-of-.la's ...'.


I'm talking here specifically about removing programs -- not all 
libtoolobjects nor object files, nor libtoollibs nor staticlibs nor 
sharedlibs.  (automade makefiles already do a decent -- and fast -- job 
of rm'ing .o's, .lo's, .libs/ and _libs/).  Just programs.  That's what 
is currently busted -- and only on cygwin.

My biggest beef with libtool is it slows EVERYTHING down; building even 
a simple static library is turned into such an ORDEAL...(but it's an 
ordeal that -- presumably -- will work correctly on every platform known 
to mankind).

I didn't really want to use libtool to clean up everything, since right 
now the only thing *broken* is cleaning programs-which were made by 
libtool-on the cygwin platform.  Fix *that*, and don't borrow trouble. 
No need to use an ICBM to kill a gnat.  <insert another aphorism here>


--Chuck