[ adding bug-standards; this thread is from http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/automake/2010-11/msg00114.html ]
* MK wrote on Sun, Nov 21, 2010 at 04:47:48PM CET: > On Sun, 21 Nov 2010 10:07:31 +0900 Miles Bader wrote: > > > > Indeed, it's often a good idea to do the research _before_ posting > > flames and rants... > > Yes. On the other hand, in my defence, GNU's online docs for make: > > http://www.gnu.org/software/make/manual/make.html > > which I sited earlier after searching for "debugging symbols", do not > make a mature attempt to explain the issue at all and instead just use > inflammatory phrases like "Users who don't mind being helpless can > strip the executables later if they wish," and "Devil-may-care users > can use the install-strip target to do that". No further > explanation. Is this how I'm supposed to learn about Coding > Standards? Via jokes and threats of some inexplicable bogey-man? Oh well. This thread has been so noisy and unproductive, maybe we should seize the opportunity to take a bit of good away from it. Karl, what do you think about this rewording (against the gnulib copy of make-stds.texi) that makes the text slightly less subjective and slightly less tongue-in-cheek? May we have a real name please to credit in the ChangeLog entry? Thanks, Ralf 2010-11-21 Ralf Wildenhues <ralf.wildenh...@gmx.de> * doc/make-stds.texi (Standard Targets): Reword recommendations about debug symbols and stripping executables. Suggested by MK <halfcountp...@...>. diff --git a/doc/make-stds.texi b/doc/make-stds.texi index 6c83b5d..61e90b6 100644 --- a/doc/make-stds.texi +++ b/doc/make-stds.texi @@ -715,8 +715,8 @@ documentation format) files should be made only when explicitly asked for. By default, the Make rules should compile and link with @samp{-g}, so -that executable programs have debugging symbols. Users who don't mind -being helpless can strip the executables later if they wish. +that executable programs have debugging symbols. Executables can be +stripped later if necessary. @item install Compile the program and copy the executables, libraries, and so on to @@ -724,8 +724,11 @@ the file names where they should reside for actual use. If there is a simple test to verify that a program is properly installed, this target should run that test. -Do not strip executables when installing them. Devil-may-care users can -use the @code{install-strip} target to do that. +Do not strip executables when installing them. This helps eventual +debugging that may be needed later, and nowadays disk space is cheap +and dynamic loaders typically ensure debug sections are not loaded during +normal execution. Users that need stripped binaries may invoke the +...@code{install-strip} target to do that. If possible, write the @code{install} target rule so that it does not modify anything in the directory where the program was built, provided