Re: [gtk-list] Re: IRIX prob; get/change menu item label prob

[Tom Tromey <tromey cygnus com>]

>> Good idea, but in my opinion it's a waste of time to solve the
>> non-GNU make problem in the GTK+ project. It should be solved in
>> the automake package, but I doubt it really will. There are some
>> features in automake that some vendor supplied make utilities don't
>> have, like the VPATH feature (do the makefiles in GLIB/GTK support
>> this?). In the mean time, we can just tell people to use GNU make.

As far as I'm aware, automake generates Makefiles which are usably
with any version of make (including truly brain-damaged ones such as
Ultrix make).

There are two exceptions to this general rule:

1. The dependency tracking code relies on GNU make and gcc.
   We're working to lift this restriction in a future version of
   automake.
   In the meantime there are various workarounds which are well
   known.

2. srcdir!=builddir builds require GNU make.
   Most vendor makes do not implement VPATH correctly
   Working around this in automake is probably more work than it is
   worth, especially since in practice most people seem to build
   directly in the srcdir (developers, as opposed to installers, being
   a typical exception)

There's also one more exception: the Makefile.am author is always
capable of introducing code which won't work in various situations.
Care is required when writing a Makefile.am, and automake can't check
for every kind of mistake.

If you know of specific bugs in automake's support for vendor makes,
please report them to bug-automake@gnu.org.  Thanks.

Tom