Re: Minor Unexpected Output

[Paul Smith]

On Mon, 2022-01-31 at 12:05 -0800, Jon Forrest wrote:
> % gmake -C /etc -C /tmp
> gmake: Entering directory '/tmp'
> gmake: *** No targets specified and no makefile found.  Stop.
> gmake: Leaving directory '/tmp'
> 
> I have no makefiles in /etc or /tmp. This was just a test.
> 
> Why isn't a similar message printed about /etc?

Because we never actually invoke any make operations.  The command line
you show is essentially identical to:

  cd /etc && cd /tmp && make

Make doesn't print any "enter/exit" messages until it begins to read
makefiles, etc. such that a user (or utility) that is interpreting the
output will know what directory we are in; the directory change output
exists to allow output that shows relative paths to be interpreted
correctly (e.g., the Emacs compilation buffer needs to know the path to
find source files in error and warning messages if they don't contain
FQ paths).  The intermediate steps taken to get to that directory
aren't really relevant.