Re: make check fails due to missing test directory

[Paul Eggert]

Alan Mackenzie wrote:
> The tests in make check are development tests.  They're not build tests.
> In fact, they're fairly useless for anybody who isn't developing Emacs.
> Somebody who is developing Emacs will have the git repository.

In what sense does Emacs differ from other GNU packages, like Coreutils?

Coreutils has a series of tests that are similarly "useless" for anybody who 
isn't developing Coreutils. However, builders of Coreutils can run 'make check' 
to run these tests. If tests fail, builders can decide themselves whether to 
install the build, or to stick with an older version. And they can report 
problems to developers, often problems that the developers themselves couldn't 
easily find. The developers and builders can then collaborate to fix the 
problem. Yes, the process can be a bit awkward, but it beats leaving the bugs 
unfixed. And no part of this process requires builders to understand the code 
well enough to fix it.

Why shouldn't Emacs do that too?