Makefile format and Automake request


#1

On compiling Frogatto (for cube trains):

I had to tweak the Makefile since is not portable. I'll take the liberty on a piece of advice on my short experience that may help on development under GNU/Linux: - You should really, really, (really!) use autotools, will save you from the paths nightmare across GNU/Linux distributions and dependencies. - Use linebreaks in Makefile, will help the readability and easier view of changes.

Unfortunately, none of this is really something I’d know how to do, or feel I should just go ahead and do on my own. Thoughts?


#2
- You should really, really, (really!) use autotools, will save you from the paths nightmare across GNU/Linux distributions and dependencies.

IIRC, we used to have an autotools setup, but the people maintaining it dropped it in favor of cmake.

One thing that needs to be understood is dave doesn’t maintain a makefile for your benefit. He maintains a makefile for his benefit, since it’s the tool he prefers after long experience. If someone else prefers to use make as well, then they’re in luck and can use it too, but it’s not being put in our source tree as a public service. Open-source differs from commercial software in that there is no “burden of debt towards the user” - in commercial software, you’re indebted to a user, and bend over backwards to please them, because they’re what keeps you in business. In open-source software, we don’t owe you anything - our software is like something we left in a box at the end of our sidewalk with a “FREE” sign on it. Maybe it’ll work for you, maybe not - but we’re not personally obligated to make it convenient.

If you want an autotools setup, you’ll need to maintain it yourself. We welcome people doing that, and putting it in our source tree, but dave has better things to do than maintain a build tool setup he doesn’t personally use.


#3

Perhaps I can salvage some stuff from that one. I’d like Cube Trains to be as easily compliable as possible, so I’m willing to put /some/ work into it.


#4

But not this much. :o Ugh, someone else can do it.