Re: [Automake-NG] Can we require GNU make >= 3.81? (make memoization doesn't work with GNU make 3.80)

[Jim Meyering]

Bob Friesenhahn wrote:
> On Sun, 20 May 2012, Jim Meyering wrote:
>>>
>>> Note that sadly we can't require GNU make >= 3.82 (which would offer use
>>> the .ONESHELL feature) because Debian and Ubuntu still comes with GNU make
>>> 3.81 as the only version available through the package manager :-(
>>
>> For an "NG" tool in its infancy (i.e., little-or-no user base),
>> requiring the nearly-2-year-old make-3.82 should not be a problem.
>> However, I admit to being surprised that even debian *unstable* is
>> still using 3.81.  You have to go to experimental to get 3.82.
>> So, yes, that means it is a problem.
>
> The logic used by Debian/Ubuntu for when to update package versions
> totally escapes me.  Users of my own software suffer as a result.
>
> If Automake-NG is going to require a particular 'make' tool then it
> should require the version which allows it to be all it can be.  It
> should be a demonstration of what is possible.  To me, this means that
> even the most recent version could be a viable requirement.  Like the
> film "Field Of Dreams", build it and they will come.

I like the idea of depending on reasonably up-to-date make, too, since it
helps the tool work better and makes it more maintainable.  The trouble
is that it would limit the acceptance/use of automake-ng.  Is the .ONESHELL
feature worth limiting portability that much?  I don't know.

> In a couple of years when Automake-NG begins to penetrate the
> "market", it seems likely that even Debian will finally have updated
> its build tools.

If we care only about uptake in 2014 and beyond, then it
is easier, indeed.