Re: [PATCH] maint.mk (null_AM_MAKEFLAGS, built_programs): remove unused definitions

[Jim Meyering]

Ralf Wildenhues wrote:
> * Jim Meyering wrote on Sun, Dec 13, 2009 at 11:44:15AM CET:
>> Paolo Bonzini wrote:
>> > This rule could actually be moved to Automake's distcheck target.
>>
>> Good idea.
>> FYI, here's the definition I have now:
>> (added GPERF and LIBTOOL, and made it overridable)

Hi Ralf,

Good point.  LIBTOOL is not like the others, since it *is*
required to be run when building from a distribution tarball.

> Adding LIBTOOL here is wrong; you meant LIBTOOLIZE.

I've removed it.
I don't see anything except bootstrap that runs $(LIBTOOLIZE).  Do you?

> There are several packages that would break, or at least have a less
> effective distcheck with this.  For example, Libtool uses Autoconf and
> Automake tools in its new testsuite.  Lots of packages build info files
> in the build tree only, or build HTML with makeinfo.

Sure.  This is policy.
That's why the variable is now overridable.

> Since currently the variable $(null_AM_MAKEFLAGS) isn't used in Automake
> code at all however, did you mean to move more code there?
>
>> # Use this to make sure we don't run these programs when building
>> # from a virgin tgz file, below.
>> null_AM_MAKEFLAGS ?= \

It's used in a coreutils' own "make distcheck" addition,
from dist-check.mk:

ALL_RECURSIVE_TARGETS += my-distcheck
my-distcheck: $(DIST_ARCHIVES) $(local-check)
        $(MAKE) syntax-check
        $(MAKE) check
        -rm -rf $(t)
        mkdir -p $(t)
        $(amtar_extract_) $(preferred_tarball_) -C $(t)
        (set -e; cd $(t)/$(distdir);                    \
          ./configure --quiet --enable-gcc-warnings --disable-nls; \
          $(MAKE) AM_MAKEFLAGS='$(null_AM_MAKEFLAGS)';  \
          $(MAKE) dvi;                                  \
          $(install-transform-check);                   \
          $(my-instcheck);                              \
          $(coreutils-path-check);                      \
          $(MAKE) distclean                             \
        )
        ...