[Python-Dev] Verbosity of the Makefile

[Charles G Waldman]

Guido van Rossum writes:

 > To me this seems like a big waste of time.
 > I see nothing broken with the current setup. 

I've built Python on every kind of system we have at FNAL, which means
Linux, several versions of Solaris, IRIX, DEC^H^H^HCompaq OSF/1, even
(shudder) WinNT, and the only complaint I've ever had with the build
system is that it doesn't do a "make depend" automatically.  (I don't
care too much about the dependencies on system headers, but the
Makefiles should at least know about the dependencies on Python's own
.h files, so when you change something like opcode.h or node.h it is
properly handled.  Fred got bitten by this when he tried to apply the
EXTENDED_ARG patch.)

Personally, I think that the "recurive Mke considered harmful" paper
is a bunch of hot air.  Many highly successful projects - the Linux
kernel, glibc, etc - use recursive Make.

 > If it ain't broken, don't fix it!

Amen!