Re: [bug-gnulib] ensure that generated files are read-only

[Bruno Haible]

Paul Eggert wrote:
> Here's another thought: how about this even-shorter version instead?
> 
> alloca.h: alloca_.h
>       $(LN_F_S) $(srcdir)/alloca_.h $@
> 
> where $(LN_FS) expands to "ln -fs" in the typical case, or to
> "rm -f $@ && cp" on hosts where "ln -fs" doesn't work (e.g., Solaris 9
> and earlier).

It depends not only on the host but also on the file system. Even on
Linux and Solaris, "ln -s" doesn't work on vfat and smb filesystems.

I doubt that saving one Makefile line here is worth yet another autoconf
test and possibly trouble on HP-UX. I'm satisfied with the "cp" and
"mv" commands: it works everywhere and doesn't need an autoconf test.

Bruno