Re: An article about the Cygnus tree

[Nix <nix at esperi dot demon dot co dot uk>]

Joe Buck <jbuck@racerx.synopsys.com> writes:

> Concept #1 is the software architecture that allows for a top-level
> makefile with tools placed underneath that top level that can be built
> all in one step.  Yes, this was invented by folks at Cygnus.  But
> what you're failing to see is that this system was designed so that
> a GNU source directory can be made a subdirectory and then built *without
> changing it*.  Since you don't appreciate that, you falsely believe that
> a huge change had to be made to gcc to get it to build within this
> structure.  Not at all: it just drops in.  The Cygnus folks had to do
> it that way to work and play successfully with GNU maintainers that did
> not use the structure.

Exactly.

Suggestion: Call it the `one-shot tree', because it lets you build
everything in one shot; or perhaps the `Cygnus one-shot tree', because
people *are* presently used to referring to it as the Cygnus tree
structure.

-- 
`OS's and GUI's come and go, only Emacs has lasting power.' --- Per Abrahamsen