notes from gcc summit maintenance BOF

[DJ Delorie]

>   configure/build
> 		
>     have to take care of automake/autoconf issues, almost critical
>     now. gcc is using ancient versions of each. In six months or so we
>     will be completely screwed. Need a transition plan.

I suggest isolating the various subdirectories first, which would
allow dealing with each subdir separately.  Probably some toplevel
Makefile hack to detect which autoconf each subdir is using, and tweak
the command lines accordingly.  We would need to get rid of the shared
cache too.

>     if file generated under wrong version, config/build fails and
>     tells you what is wrong

I once considered a cron job that regenerates the files with the
approved tools, and auto-commits if there's any discrepancies.

>     who will approve this patch?
>     how long will this take?

Those are the hard questions, especially since there are so many
independent projects sharing the toplevel files.

>     WHAT TO DO WITH REQUIRED VERSION of make
>       - specific one, GNU make 3.79.1

This is a chicken and egg problem, if GNU make requires GCC to build.

>     WHAT TO DO WITH source/build sameness

I'm still waiting for the SC to bless us with their opinions on
in-source builds.

>   maintainership
> 
>     more people who can approve patches

Else make "being a maintainer" imply that you give reviewing patches
higher priority than other things.