Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Path: utzoo!utgpu!water!watnot!watmath!clyde!cbatt!osu-eddie!bob
From: bob@osu-eddie.UUCP
Newsgroups: comp.windows.x
Subject: Makefiles (a modest proposal)
Message-ID: <3279@osu-eddie.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 3-Mar-87 21:30:57 EST
Article-I.D.: osu-eddi.3279
Posted: Tue Mar  3 21:30:57 1987
Date-Received: Fri, 6-Mar-87 00:57:01 EST
Sender: news@osu-eddie.UUCP
Reply-To: bob@osu-eddie.UUCP (Bob Sutterfield)
Organization: The Ohio State University Dept of Computer & Information Science
Lines: 36
Keywords: Makefile CONFDIR
Summary: more configurable

When installing X v10r4 on our systems, I ran across some things in
the Makefiles that make life unnecessarily difficult.  Every Makefile
in the distribution has a line something like:
	CONFDIR= /usr/new
with the comment that this will decide where the executables go when
you `make install'.  As it turns out, the one-level-down makefiles
also expect to put the libraries in CONFDIR/lib, All very nice, if you
are running a stock 4.3 system, and if you like things to go in
/usr/new.  Unfortunately, we are in neither situation.

Since Time Immemorial, our executables have gone into `/u/osu/bin',
with libraries in `/u/osu/lib'.  When I changed CONFDIR to point to
`/u/osu/bin' (as the Makefile comments led me), I found a directory
`/u/osu/bin/lib' being created.  When I changed CONFDIR to point to
`/u/osu' I found libraries being put into `/u/osu/lib', but the
executables going into `/u/osu'.  Not at all what I wanted.  Some
careful editing of the Makefiles got things going where I wanted them,
but there is an easier solution, and thus the point of my suggestion:

To the X v11 authors and distribution kit-makers: Please structure the
next release of the Makefiles with two major symbols: One that points
directly to the directories where the executables are to go, and
another that points directly to where the libraries are intended to
reside.  None of this unimplied offsetting stuff!  In the distribution
version, these could be something like:
	BINDIR= /usr/new
	LIBDIR= /usr/new/lib
and all would behave as it does now.  `make reconfig' would still be
able, with a little twiddling, to propagate changes down through the
directories.  It would really help those of us with non-"standard"
layouts.  Thanks!
------
 Bob Sutterfield, Department of Computer and Information Science
 The Ohio State University; 2036 Neil Ave. Columbus OH USA 43210-1277
 bob@ohio-state.{arpa,csnet} or ...!cb{osgd,att}!osu-eddie!bob
 (614) 292 - 0915 or (614) 292 - 5813