Re: [Bug-gnulib] Re: [PATCH] ping on GNU/KFreeBSD patch sent a while ago

[Robert Millan]

First of all, this discussion is completely off-topic. I'll respond to your
message for the sake of clarity, but it has nothing to do with this thread,
which is about how should host-os.m4 call the GNU/K*BSD systems.

On Thu, Oct 30, 2003 at 03:26:49PM +0100, Bruno Haible wrote:
> 
> FreeBSD with FreeBSD userland and FreeBSD with GNU libc and GNU userland
> certainly share the same kernel, then either they should be called

You're confusing FreeBSD with its kernel. FreeBSD is a complete operating
system like GNU (aka GNU/Hurd). By definition, FreeBSD _includes_ FreeBSD libc
and FreeBSD userland.

Actualy, I wrote an entry in my FAQ just for that:

  http://www.nongnu.org/glibc-bsd/

>         i386-pc-freebsd-freebsd
>         i386-pc-freebsd-gnu

This makes no sense, since FreeBSD is not a kernel.

And such a change is definitely not going to happen. The reason is that I, the
primary port maintainer, agreed with Richard Stallman to preced it with a "k"
as an abbreviation for "kernel of".

At this point a HUGE amount of porting work has already been done, and I am
not going to change it back. It doesn't matter how much you argue about this,
so I suggest you just give up and spend your time doing something productive.

>         i386-pc-kfreebsd-freebsd

This is is correct, although redundant and very impractical. If you want to
change it, take this up with the FreeBSD developers.

> But using different $host_kernel values ("freebsd" for one and "kfreebsd"
> for the other) will only create porting hassles for programs which depend
> on the kernel (e.g. which depend on the way to access the sound card or
> the console keyboard map etc).

This only happens for a very reduced set of packages. The normal tendency is
to use the triplet to check for userland (typicaly, libc). On most of the
situations, the same rule that checks for "-linux*-gnu" or "-gnu*" works for
"-k*bsd*-gnu" pretty well.

And believe me, having ported the first hundreds of software packages to
GNU/K*BSD, I have some idea on what I'm talking about.

-- 
Robert Millan

"[..] but the delight and pride of Aule is in the deed of making, and in the
thing made, and neither in possession nor in his own mastery; wherefore he
gives and hoards not, and is free from care, passing ever on to some new work."

 -- J.R.R.T, Ainulindale (Silmarillion)