Re: [PATCH] Makefile: check that tcl/tk is installed

From: Jeff King <peff@peff.net>
Date: Nov 27, 2017, 15:31 UTC
Message-ID: <20171127153107.GB23218@sigill.intra.peff.net>
In-Reply-To: <CAP8UFD1hRWa1YtgRPZxXvkqcHfUoKKxgVUuN_d9C36jbrGBBXA@mail.gmail.com>

On Sun, Nov 26, 2017 at 09:57:14PM +0100, Christian Couder wrote:

Show 14 quoted lines

> > As much as I hate autoconf,
> > is it the right advice for somebody who doesn't want to look at the
> > Makefile knobs to do:
> >
> >   autoconf
> >   ./configure
> >   make
> >
> > ?
> 
> I don't think so. I think it is just easier to advice to do as most of
> us do, and to just add a few checks in the Makefile to make it clear
> which dependencies should be installed or which knob should be
> tweaked.

I guess I can buy that line of reasoning (and in particular your later comment that autoconf is doomed to bitrot, since most of us don't use it). I'm just slightly concerned that we're going to end up reimplementing autoconf inside our Makefile. ;)

But that is a slippery slope argument; we could switch our approach any time if it starts to look bad.

-Peff