Re: [Qemu-devel] [Qemu-block] [PATCH] tests: Fix Python 3 detection on older GNU make versions

[Eduardo Habkost]

On Wed, Nov 07, 2018 at 01:45:35PM +0000, Peter Maydell wrote:
> On 7 November 2018 at 12:49, Eduardo Habkost <address@hidden> wrote:
> > Now, why do we need --with-python, and why do we need to use
> > $(PYTHON) when running tests?  If somebody wants to use a
> > different Python binary when running tests, they can already use
> > $PATH for that.
> >
> > (That's the same argument I used for iotests a while ago:
> > https://www.mail-archive.com/address@hidden/msg566631.html)
> 
> I'm not a great fan of requiring the user to mess with their PATH
> to get configure to work. Also, the first python on the path
> might be the wrong one, and we don't pass PATH from configure
> to make so you end up having to make sure you specify it
> right in both places.

You're assuming that this will actually require some people to
mess with their $PATH because they currently don't have Python on
their $PATH.  I don't see any evidence that this is expected to
happen.  Do you?

> 
> Plus we already have --with-python, so if you want to drop
> it you need to deprecate it first, and you need a justification
> that's strong enough to outweigh breaking users' existing
> build/packaging setups and scripts...

I would really like to remove the option as soon as we start
requiring Python 3.  Let's stop reinventing solutions to problems
already addressed by PEP 394.

-- 
Eduardo