Re: make depend (Re: Coming attractions: VPATH build; make variables issue)

Peter Eisentraut <peter_e(at)gmx(dot)net> writes:
> Just a sanity check: Does anyone use `make depend'? Does everyone know
> about the better way to track dependencies? Does every-/anyone know why
> `make depend' is worse? I just don't want to bother fixing something
> that's dead anyway...
> (helpful reading: http://www.paulandlesley.org/gmake/autodep.html)

Well, you'll still have to touch every makefile :-( --- but I see no
good reason not to remove "make depend" if we have support for a better
solution. Comments anyone?

One thought here: "make depend" has the advantage of being
non-intrusive, in the sense that you're not forced to use it and if
you don't use it it doesn't cost you anything. In particular,
non-developer types probably just want to build from scratch when they
get a new distribution --- they don't want to expend cycles on making
useless (for them) dependency files, and they most certainly don't want
to be forced to use gcc, nor to install a makedepend tool. I trust what
you have in mind doesn't make life worse for people who don't need
dependency tracking.

regards, tom lane