Re: current glibc vs debian sid

[Akim Demaille <akim at epita dot fr>]

>>>>> "Franz" == Franz Sirl <Franz.Sirl-kernel@lauterbach.com> writes:

Franz> Well, besides the coding standards problem, the main problem is
Franz> that you can't emulate the old syntax with the new syntax and
Franz> that the emulation of the old syntax isn't working
Franz> correctly. So either the old syntax compatibility has to be
Franz> fixed or it has to be rejected completely and the coding
Franz> standards need updating then.

An incredible amount of time was spent in trying to maintain some
backward compatibility.  Some of us were against it, others wanted it,
even broken in some subtle ways.

I'm fine with removing it completely now.  Autoconf is full of `FIXME:
remove when...'.  I'm fine with doing this in the release following
the next one.


Franz> Fixing the new syntax requires a documented way to set
Franz> $host_alias and $target_alias for a native build without
Franz> triggering a cross-compile (doesn't auto-set $program_prefix,
Franz> $ac_tool_prefix, etc.).

What's wrong with ./configure --build=foo?  This is a native build on
foo for a native compiler.


Franz> What always puzzles me on that issue is what is so difficult
Franz> about deciding whether we have a cross or native build? After
Franz> setting $canon_build, $canon_host and $canon_target (I'm using
Franz> the canon_ prefix here cause the naked $build, $host, $target
Franz> are documented as deprecated) the decision is simply:

Franz>          if "$canon_build$canon_host" ==
Franz> "$canon_target$canon_target" cross_compile=no else if
Franz> "$canon_host" == "$canon_target" cross_compile=simple else
Franz> cross_compile=canadian fi fi

It's not that simple.  Some people had argued that for instance
because of some libraries, something that looked like a native build
was actually cross.  Some people also said that they want to pretend
they cross-compile using their native compiling suite just to be able
to exercise their package in cross-compilation.

in the end, everything amounts to: we do not want any form of educated
guess from configure: with --host it's cross, without, it's not.