Re: State of the new config & build system

Linus Torvalds
2001-12-29T20:27:03Z

On Sat, 29 Dec 2001, Keith Owens wrote:
>
> Yes, some of the problems with mkdep can be fixed in the current design
> but there is one problem that is inherently unfixable. make dep is a
> manual process so it relies on users knowing when they have to rerun
> make dep AND THEY DON'T DO IT!

Don't be silly.

Make the dependency file itself depend on all the files it describes, and
add a makefile rule to re-generate it. Poof, problem gone.

> Dependencies _do_ change when your .config changes,

Only if you do them wrong. Look at mkdep.c - it statically determines the
complete list of header files that _can_ be included, and does not care at
all about what config options there are.

> that are included varies. gcc -MD gets this exactly right, gcc knows
> which files it read.

Bzzt, it knows the subset of files to read, nothing more.

Linus