[comp.windows.x] X11 Makefiles

peterson@MCC.COM (James Peterson) (10/02/87)

The makefiles for X11 fail to use complete path names for many Unix
programs.  For example, in the *.macros files in  util/imake.includes,
are the definitions of AS, CC, LD, LINT, and MAKE.  These should be
complete pathnames, as:

             AS = /bin/as
             CC = /bin/cc
             LD = /bin/ld
           LINT = /usr/bin/lint
           MAKE = /bin/make
 
Also, in the Makefile for fonts, there are instances of ls, rm, sed, and
awk.

The problem is that some of us have local variants of these routines
which have been modified to meet our needs.  These do not always match
the expected behavior of the scripts.

For example, some of our people have modified 'ls' to act as
'ls -l' when used with no arguments. Similarly,
many sites have modified 'rm' to prevent inadvert file 
deletion. 'rm' is used 847 times in the X11 Makefiles.  It might
be wise to add rm (and other Unix program names) to the *.macros files.
-- 
James Peterson
james.peterson@mcc.com  or  ...sally!im4u!milano!peterson

diamant@hpfclp.HP.COM (John Diamant) (10/04/87)

> The makefiles for X11 fail to use complete path names for many Unix
> programs.  For example, in the *.macros files in  util/imake.includes,
> are the definitions of AS, CC, LD, LINT, and MAKE.  These should be
> complete pathnames, as:
> 
>              AS = /bin/as
>              CC = /bin/cc
>              LD = /bin/ld
>            LINT = /usr/bin/lint
>            MAKE = /bin/make

I don't think so.  Better control of your path while compiling (maybe including
a path in the makefiles themselves) would be a much better way to handle this.
You are assuming that every UNIX implementation puts every command in the
same spot.  That is a no-no.  It would be much better to restrict your path
to not include the modified versions of programs you don't want used, then it
would to hard code paths of everything into makefiles.


John Diamant			UUCP:  {hplabs,hpfcla}!hpfclp!diamant
Hewlett Packard Co.		ARPA Internet: diamant%hpfclp@hplabs.HP.COM
Fort Collins, CO