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Re: PATH_MAX and test-stat.h


From: Karl Berry
Subject: Re: PATH_MAX and test-stat.h
Date: Sat, 18 Jun 2011 22:24:53 GMT

IMHO ...

    I suspect that the most useful thing we can do in gnulib is define
    PATH_MAX to a non-constant expression on all platforms, 

And intentionally break loads of existing code?
I am highly doubtful that that is "useful"; "painful" sounds more
accurate :).

I am aware that conceptually there is no PATH_MAX on Hurd and no
requirement for it to be a smallish constant, but it seems to me that
any real-world system has to define PATH_MAX as a reasonable constant
simply for compatibility with all the code that has been written with
that assumption over the last 30+ years.

    maintainers who want to go in for this can probably achieve the same
    sort of effect with a syntax check.

I agree with that, and I would extend it to the idea of PATH_MAX as a
non-constant.  Programmers who want to worry about it are free to do so
(and in GNU we *should* worry about it), but let's not impose it on
everyone.

k



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