Re: [PATCH 0/7] tools: remove private Makefile variables

[George Dunlap <george.dunlap@eu.citrix.com>]

On 05/06/2015 12:37 PM, Olaf Hering wrote:
> On Wed, May 06, George Dunlap wrote:
> 
>> On Fri, Apr 24, 2015 at 11:25 AM, Olaf Hering <olaf@aepfle.de> wrote:
>>> Replace all private variables in Makefiles with automake variables.
>>> This series is based on 92ff75384bce7a11e27fbfaf0c531e88dd1ab4c7.
>>
>> Why?
> 
> Why use private variables?

I'm not saying we should use private variables; I'm asking why you think
we shouldn't.

So it sounds like the answer to my question is something like:

"The Xen build system creates a wide range of private variables which
duplicate existing variables created by automake.  There's no reason to
duplicate these variables; just use the ones provided by automake.  This
makes our code simpler, by not having to duplicate a bunch of
already-defined variables.  It also has ${OTHER_POTENTIAL_BENEFIT[@]}."

You should put that explanation in the cover letter, and have some
reference to it in each of the commit messages, so reviewers and
archaeologists understand why you're making this change.

 -George