Re: [Qemu-devel] [PATCH 0/3] add --confdir option to configure

[Anthony Liguori <anthony@codemonkey.ws>]

On 03/19/2012 11:03 AM, Eric Blake wrote:
> On 03/19/2012 09:43 AM, Eduardo Habkost wrote:
>>>> A --package-name option could be provided to make it easier to override
>>>> all the defaults at the same time, but I don't see why not include an
>>>> option to define the full path for confdir, just like we allow for
>>>> datadir, docdir, and mandir.
>>>
>>> No, I'm not suggesting --package-name, I'm suggesting that qemu-kvm
>>> would carry a patch to configure that changed a fixed PACKAGE_NAME
>>> define.
>
> Actually, the idea of an explicit --package-name is not that bad: the
> upstream automake list recently had a discussion on whether it should be
> possible to alter the PACKAGE_NAME at configure or even make time, and
> the conclusion was that it might be a useful idea, but we'd need to
> pursue getting the GNU Coding Standards, autoconf, and automake all
> updated to make it a reality, as it is not necessarily a trivial task
> from the outset.
>
> https://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/automake/2012-02/msg00034.html

That's interesting, thanks for point it out.

But I think for qemu, we should stick to not making PACKAGE_NAME configurable.

I would hope that qemu-kvm would stop being packaged separate from qemu in most 
distributions in the not so distance future.

Regards,

Anthony Liguori

>
>> If you suggest making it configurable using a variable on the 'make'
>> command-line it would be OK, but I kind of hoped that no modern software
>> project would ever require packagers to use configure-by-sed methods to
>> set build parameters.
>
> Obviously, since qemu doesn't use automake, we aren't quite in the same
> position as that automake thread; and even though we are not bound by
> GNU Coding Standards, it might be interesting to see what happens on
> that front, to make sure we are not proposing an incompatible solution.
>