I was just noticing, while answering a user question, the amount of
unorganized urban sprawl we've accumulated in
https://www.postgresql.org/docs/devel/install-procedure.html
We've got practically-essential options like --prefix and
--with-openssl intermixed with obscure portability flags
and options that only developers should take any interest in.
For bonus points, the ordering seems chosen largely by dartboard;
there's certainly no visible plan to it.
I think we should try to improve the situation by dividing the
configure options into categories and/or separating commonly
used options from obscure ones. I don't have any concrete
proposal to make right now, but I am hoping to kick off a
discussion about what such an organization would look like.
regards, tom lane