Re: Idea: GNU Make Standard Library

[David Boyce]

At 09:30 AM 1/18/2005, Dill, John wrote:
> >It suddenly occurred to me that it might be nice to have a standard
> >library of GNU Make functions that Makefile writes could 'include'.   I
> >could imagine something like 'include gmsl.mak' which would then define
> >a bunch of functions to arithmetic, list manipulation, string functions,
> >...
> >
> >Anyone think this is a good idea?  If so, I'll consider registering a
> >SourceForge or Savannah project for this and maintain it.  I could
> >implement quite a bit of this and release it under the GPL.
>
> It's something that I thought about and would like to see, as I think it 
> would allow much greater flexibility and power of the make system.  There 
> are a couple of questions.
>
> Who would be involved in making a function 'standard'?  If we've decided 
> to make a function standard, should it just be coded directly into the 
> gmake source?  I would be annoyed with having to use $(call ...) to call a 
> standard function.

I should note first that I have no standing or inside knowledge; I'm just a 
person who reads this list. That said, I think your understanding of "we" 
here is incorrect. The maintainer/gatekeeper for GNU make is Paul Smith. My 
understanding (of course, he can speak for himself but hasn't yet) is that 
he's quite conservative about adding new functions to GNU make source, with 
the logic being is that guile is the future path.

Thus I think "we" as it relates to the notion of a GMSL is really just John 
G-C and whoever else chooses to contribute. A classic loosely-organized, 
non-hierarchical OSS project, neither under the control of GNU make per se 
nor having any control over it. The "standard" part is just for tradition. 
And I think you should get used to using $(call ...) for GMSL functions.

As regard the GMSL itself, it sounds like a fine idea to me. Of course I 
see myself as a likely consumer and only a possible future producer, so 
weight the vote accordingly. I tend to use both GNU make and clearmake in 
its GNU compatibility mode, so an advantage of a GMSL (as opposed to 
building the same functions into GNU make) is that they could potentially 
be available for both. But that would depend on some future clearmake 
supporting user-defined functions (it's currently not that compatible).

-dsb