Re: Getting rid of build tools

[Pjotr Prins]

On Mon, Dec 28, 2015 at 09:06:40AM -0600, Christopher Allan Webber wrote:
> I guess these things could be done through Guix itself.  What I'd rather
> see though is a "./configure && make" compatible interface system for
> package building which uses Guile as its configuration language.
> Automake and friends are great when they're working, but I'd love a
> system that relied less on string-macro expansion and etc when I have to
> debug them.
> 
> I think that would be an interesting project.  It would be nice to see
> it happen outside of Guix though, so it could be used more generally.

I agree. It is actually in line with Eelco Dolstra's thinking more
than 10 years ago (he created 'Maak'), though he did not use Guile.

I am not saying we don't need build tools altogether - I'll still use
make and rake, for example. But we certainly don't need all the
baggage that comes with the current set of 'complex' Makefile
generation tools that are automake and cmake. I guess it should be
somewhere in between :). Yes a configurable Guile solution would be
excellent.

Pj.