Re: [PATCH] simplify installation rules, using new Automake

[Jim Meyering]

Ralf Wildenhues <address@hidden> wrote:
> This relies on development Automake to provide multi-file
> installation, and avoids relying on undocumented Automake
> interfaces.  It also removes special-casing for `['.
> * configure.ac (AM_INIT_AUTOMAKE): Depend on 1.10a.
> (CROSS_COMPILING): New Automake conditional.
> * src/Makefile.am (install-exec-am, filtered_PROGS)
> (d_bindir, cu-install-binPROGRAMS): Remove.
> (INSTALL_PROGRAM) [!CROSS_COMPILING]: Set to `./ginstall'.
> ---
>
> Hello Jim,
>
> I wasn't sure why you needed the special-casing for '['.
> Which shell has problems with it?  The commit which adds the

Hmm... I think the need to special case "[" dates back
farther than that relatively recent change.
It could be (in spite of the comment) that the culprit was
not a shell, but rather some vendor version of make.
Or maybe there's no problem at all ;-)

Anyhow, this looks like a fine improvement.
And I'll probably apply as-is.
If there's a problem with `[', it won't be on a
main-stream target and we'll deal with it.

Thank you!

> special-casing is 9d595099372e2eabbecce2f303058743e93f0748 from
> May this year, I cannot find any details about the issue.
> Posix seems unclear in whether '[' needs to be accepted unquoted.
> But also, I don't have access to a shell which would need quoting.
>
> Anyway, what do you think about this patch (requires git master
> Automake)?

Fine, so far.  I've begun experimenting/testing with the very latest
version of automake already.

> It has the small disadvantage of causing an unconditional
> but otherwise harmless warning from automake (cannot be silenced with
> -Wno-override), but the advantage that the undocumented interface
> binPROGRAMS_INSTALL is not used any more.  The patch can be modified
> to still use binPROGRAMS_INSTALL, in order to silence the warning,
> but then I cannot apply this patch to Automake:
> <http://thread.gmane.org/gmane.comp.sysutils.automake.patches/3197>.

Yes, I did see that.  Thanks for dealing with this.
You may expect coreutils' use of binPROGRAMS_INSTALL to
disappear, no matter what.  It was just an optimization after all.
The last thing I want is for that to present an obstacle to
automake development.