GNU gnulib: calling for beta-testers

[Bruno Haible]

If you are developer on a package that uses GNU gnulib as part of its build
system:

gnulib-tool has been known for being slow for many years. We have listened to
your complaints. A rewrite of gnulib-tool in another programming language
(Python) is ready for beta-testing. It is between 8 times and 100 times faster
than the original gnulib-tool.

Both implementations should behave identically, that is, produce the same
generated files and the same output. You can help us ensure this, through the
following steps:

1. Make sure you have Python (version 3.7 or newer) installed on your
machine.

2. Update your gnulib checkout. (For some packages, it comes as a git
submodule named 'gnulib'.) Like this:

  $ git checkout master
  $ git pull

     Set the environment variable GNULIB_SRCDIR, pointing to this checkout.

     If the package is using a git submodule named 'gnulib', it is also
advisable to do

  $ git commit -m 'build: Update gnulib submodule to latest.' gnulib

     (as a preparation for step 5, because the --no-git option does not work
as expected in all variants of 'bootstrap').

3. Set an environment variable that enables checking that the two
implementations behave the same:

  $ export GNULIB_TOOL_IMPL=sh+py


4. Clean the built files of your package:

  $ make -k distclean


5. Regenerate the fetched and generated files of your package. Depending on
the package, this may be a command such as

  $ ./bootstrap --no-git --gnulib-srcdir=$GNULIB_SRCDIR

     or

  $ export GNULIB_SRCDIR; ./autopull.sh; ./autogen.sh

     or, if no such script is available:

  $ $GNULIB_SRCDIR/gnulib-tool --update

     If there is a failure, due to differences between the 'sh' and 'py'
results, please report it to <bug-gnulib@gnu.org>.

6. If this invocation was successful, you can trust the rewritten gnulib-tool
and use it from now on, by setting the environment variable

  $ export GNULIB_TOOL_IMPL=py


7. Continue with

  $ ./configure
  $ make

     as usual.

And enjoy the speed! The rewritten gnulib-tool was implemented by Dmitry
Selyutin, Collin Funk, and me.



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